The Perfect Vessel
by shima orealu
Summary: What if Orochimaru had picked Naruto to be his next vessel, instead of Sasuke and had given Naruto the curse seal in the forest of death? What would happen differently?
1. Chapter 1

I'm absolutely terrible for starting another story when I still have two that I haven't updated yet, but here I go, doing it again. Also, a note.

Because this story is what it is, team 7's experience in the forest of death will be different. It's not possible to stick to the original storyline and have this story turn out the way I want it. Just a warning.

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Naruto was excited. The forest of death didn't bother him much. He was looking forward to fighting new people from the different villages. He said "I wish they would hurry up and open the gate already..."

Sakura said "Naruto..." She sighed "Are you even taking this seriously?"

Naruto said "Huh?"

"You know that we could die in here..." Sakura said uncomfortably. Even though Sasuke might see it as weakness from her, she needed to get Naruto to realize it.

Naruto said "Nah...all these other guys are genin too. I can take 'em..." Just then the gates opened and all the teams ran in. Sakura sighed. Naruto got distracted once he was inside. He really had to go. Maybe he shouldn't have had that extra glass of juice that morning...

As Sakura saw what Naruto was about to do, she hit him on the head "Baka! You don't do that in front of a lady! Go somewhere else!"

"Itai..." Naruto cried "You didn't have to hit so hard, Sakura-chan..." He walked away rubbing his head. Sasuke snickered. Sakura sighed. They waited on Naruto.

Sakura said, annoyed, after waiting for over over ten minutes "What's taking him so long?"

Meanwhile...with Naruto...

Naruto had gone about a couple blocks away. He was going to head back to his team when he heard something. Someone. He tensed and looked around. Searching for the source of the rustle. He heard a laugh. He growled "Show yourself." Naruto frowned as a ninja appeared. It was the same one from earlier, the one who had given that crazy lady her kunai back. "You here for the scroll?" He got into a fighting position.

The shinobi chuckled and said "No, I'm here for you."

Suddenly Naruto felt a huge amount of killer intent coming from the man as he caught his eyes with his. Naruto shivered. It was the strongest that he had ever felt, but he had felt killer intent before, he had people wanting to kill him since he was born. He said, looking at him, but not quite in the eye "You're not a genin. Who are you?"

Oorochimaru was very surprised, but intrigued that the killer intent didn't immobilize the boy. It had always done so to his other opponents. He had been told about the boy's power by Kabuto, who could sense his opponents power level. Apparently the Kyuubi he contained's chakra was starting to mix with his own. He thought on it. At first, he had just been going after Sasuke, for his Sharingan, but if the Kyuubi-brat had become like Kabuto said, maybe he would be the better choice. He would see for himself. He licked his lips. "I am Oorochimaru." He paused "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Out from nowhere came the largest snake that Naruto had ever seen. Oorochimaru drove the snake forward. Naruto thought 'Crap.'

Back with Sasuke and Sakura...

Sakura saw Naruto walking out from the bushes. "Ahh. I feel better now!"

Sasuke frowned and threw two kunai at him.

Sakura cried "Sasuke! What are you doing?"

The Naruto cried "That almost hit me!"

Sasuke said "That's not Naruto. His wound is gone from earlier and he didn't react to the kunai getting thrown at him like he usually would. The real Naruto would have screamed an insult at me and barely dodged." Sakura then realized Sasuke was right.

'Naruto' poofed and there was the grass nin from earlier, who chuckled. "Perceptive, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke scowled. "Who are you?"

"I am Oorochimaru" Oorochimaru did the same thing he had done to Naruto and with a mix of satisfaction and dissapointment, he saw both Sasuke and the kunoichi freeze in fear. He saw it race through them. He would see if he could snap out of it when his life was in danger. He summoned another snake.

Back with Naruto...

This snake was outmatching him. Regular attacks weren't working against it. He would have to..."Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" About a hundred Narutos appeared.

Oorochimaru was surprised, was the boy doing this on his own chakra?Intriguing. But it wasn't good enough. His snake swept through all of the clones in little time and was left with five, all of which got slammed into a tree. There were five poofs. Oorochimaru frowned. What just happened? Then he sensed something coming down from the sky. The boy! He had hidden his chakra for a moment. He made the snake strike out and the boy went flying into the tree with a groan. That had been a good move. More than he had expected from the boy. Perhaps he had underestimated the kyuubi brat. For now, he left the boy to the snake. If he survived, then he was worth further attention. He would go replace his clone that was with his other prospective vessel. He poofed away, leaving Naruto to the snake.

Naruto groaned as he got up and the snake swallowed him before he could recover. Naruto struggled inside the snake. What could he do now? He tried cutting it with his kunai, but it didn't work. As he saw a chunk of food being digested he swallowed, finally feeling fear. Would he die here? His life flashed before his eyes. Then he was woken out of his thoughts by a scream. Sakura's scream. His determination came back full flame. He had to get out of here now! He suddenly had an idea. A snake's stomach could only hold so much. "Taiju Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Back with the rest of team 7...

Sasuke was still frozen in fear. He was trying so hard to move. He could talk. He had broken from it enough from that. So had Sakura, it seemed, as she screamed. Then the killer intent came in a fresh wave and he was frozen all over again. 'Damn it!' Just as the snake was a couple of feet away from striking them, there was a flash and a blond boy holding it back. He looked at them both with an intense stare. "What's wrong, are you hurt? Scaredy cat!"

Oorochimaru noticed that some of the kyuubi's chakra had leaked out. The boy must have had to draw on it to defeat the snake. Was it accident or could the boy call upon it? Either way he could make use of that... He looked between the Uchiha who was driven by revenge and had the sharingan and the kyuubi-brat who wanted to be the ruler of Leaf. Sasuke had more of a motive to join him willingly, but Naruto was more powerful by far. He made his decision. He cast a genjutsu on the other two and left a clone that looked like Naruto with them. It was a timed genjutsu. That didn't require his presence. It lasted five minutes. That was all he needed. He chased the boy with the snake a good distance away before he attacked again. When he was on his last legs in the fight, Oorochimaru let the snake dissapear. He said "Naruto-kun. I have a present for you." He stretched out his neck and bit Naruto on his.

Sakura and Sasuke snapped out of it just in time to see the clone poof away and hear the real Naruto's screams.

XIXIXIXIXIXIXIXXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIX So, what do you think? Let me know whether I should continue this. If I get at least 10 reviews, I will. Ja ne. 


	2. Chapter 2

I'm glad that so many of you like this story, so I'll continue. Here's the next chapter of the Perfect Vessel.

T-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-T Sasuke and Sakura were able to move now and they did, as fast as they could, to Naruto. They found him passed out on the ground in an unnatural position. Sakura checked him over. She saw a black seal on his neck then it dissapeared. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

Sakura frowned "He had a black mark on his neck."

Sasuke said "It's probably a bruise. We can get that figured out when we make it out of here."

Sakura said, quietly, while looking at Naruto and then Sasuke "Was that really Naruto back there?"

Sasuke had been wondering the same thing. Since when had the dobe been so powerful and what was that red chakra? He picked him up and put him on his back in a fireman carry. He said "Let's just hurry up and find the other scroll."

Sakura noticed something right behind Sasuke. "Sasuke, there's one. Just laying there."

Sasuke turned and looked at it in surprise. Then he activated his sharignan and stared at it. "It's a real one. It must have fallen out of the dobe's jacket."

"How did he get it?"

"I don't know, but be glad he did. We can leave this place."

Sakura nodded and shivered as she remembered the man they had fought and the waves of killer intent. Then she was confused "Why did he leave, Sasuke? If Naruto had his scroll, why did he walk away?"

Sasuke frowned. Put that way it didn't make any sense to him either. "I don't know, but let's hurry anyway." Sasuke activated his sharingan again to look out for traps and people. They made it to the lookout an exhausting four hours later without mishap. They had had to stop and hide several times from the other teams.

It looked like they were the first ones there. The scroll on the wall as they walked in caught both Sasuke and Sakura's attention. She read it. "It must be talking about the scrolls." Sasuke nodded.

"Let's open them." They did and were stumped when nothing but heaven and earth were written on them...suddenly Sasuke realized "Drop them! It's a summoning!" They dropped them and a form appeared in a cloud of smoke. As it cleared...

Sakura asked "Iruka sensei?"

Iruka was amazed as he checked his watch. It was night now, but they had made it on the first day. That had far exceeded his expectations. He then saw that Naruto was passed out. He frowned and said "When did that happen?"

Sasuke said "After we got both scrolls."

Iruka sighed. He said "You pass, but you'll need to tell me what happened."

Sasuke nodded.

Iruka said "Have you tried waking him up?"

Sakura said "No. I think he could be suffering from chakra depletion. There was a big fight..."

Iruka said "We can talk on the inside. It will be a couple of days before most of the rest of the genin make it here." They went inside and up to balcony and sat. The Hokage hadn't even gotten here yet. He wouldn't be here until the morning. He said "Now, tell me what happened and how you got here so fast."

Sakura said "Naruto walked off..."

"Why?"

Sasuke said "He had to go."

Iruka caught Sasuke's meaning "Oh..." He sweatdropped.

Sakura continued. "When he came back, it wasn't really him. It was an impersonator ."

Sasuke said "He said his name was Oorochimaru."

Alarm bells were going off in Iruka's head, but he didn't want to alarm the genin. He asked "Then what happened?" Both genin looked embarassed then.

Sasuke looked away "He let off such a huge amount of killer intent..."

Sakura finished "We couldn't move. He summoned a snake. Before it could get us..."

Sasuke continued "Naruto appeared out of nowhere. We were...still affected...he and Oorochimaru fought...a genjutsu must have been placed on us."

Iruka frowned "Explain."

Sakura said, with a shiver "We snapped out of it to find what we thought was naruto change into a log and we heard Naruto..."

This time Naruto interrupted them with a groan, which made all of them snap their attention on him. Sasuke had let him down to be leaning against the wall. He gritted his teeth. "I'm fine and I'm continuing the exam."

Iruka said "Naruto..."

Naruto looked at him with such intensity that it almost made him step back, even though Naruto himself wasn't standing. He said "I'm fine."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at their team mate, wondering how he had recovered so fast. Had he really recovered?

Naruto was trying to suppress the pain he was going through. He recalled the time he had spent with the kyuubi...

After he had passed out, he had woken up in a sewer like place across from a cage. He hadn't been here before, but he had a good idea where he was. "Kyuubi."

A beast walked closer, to just inside of the cage. "Brat." He snarled.

The Kyuubi was pissed. It was going to take a lot of energy to keep his container from dying because of that curse seal...he thought it over, the effects of the curse seal, not whether he should save his host. That was a given. He had no intention of dying. The effects of that seal would be to weaken the mind of the target. Perhaps Kyuubi could use that to his advantage. He couldn't let the seal get to level two, though. That would shorten the lifespan and cause permanent effects. He wanted this body. If he combined with the curse seal could break the boy, he could take over. Then he would remove it, until then he would let it chip away at the boy's spirit and mind. After that, he would kill that snake bastard. Now, how to restrain it without taking it off? He also needed to make it dissapear so the meddling ningens wouldn't discover it. One of them had sealed him into this boy. He wouldn't be surprised if one of them knew how to remove the seal. He said "Brat. Listen to me."

"Why?"

"I can't heal the pain." Well actually he could cut off the pain, but he wasn't going to let the brat know that. He planned on using the pain to break him. "But that seal that that snake put on you will take control of you if you don't restrain it."

"So what are you telling me to do?"

"Step closer."

"No way."

"I'm going to put another seal on you to restrain it, but you have to get closer. I'm not going to kill you. I need you alive remember?" It seemed like the boy was thinking this over. He said "Also, anyone who asks, you tell them it's a bruise. If you let them know it's a curse seal they'll throw you out, so don't tell them. You know they're looking for a reason to get rid of you."

"Because of you!"

"Just get over here!" Naruto walked over hesitatingly and the Kyuubi reached out of the cage and swiped him on the side of the neck. "That'll fix it." Naruto passed out from that world in pain and didn't wake up again until they were inside with Iruka-sensei standing over him.

Sakura said "There was a mark on his shoulder..."

Naruto said "The snake smashed me into a boulder. It left a bruise, but it's gone now. I had some other ones too." He put his head behind his head and said, with a faked laugh "I heal kinda fast, I guess." He pulled down the cloth and showed them a bare shoulder. He found with relief that the bite marks were gone and so was the seal. All that remained was a 3 inch by 1 inch scar.

Iruka asked "Where did that come from?"

Naruto hated lying to his favorite sensei, but he had to. The fox was right. Iruka and the Hokage and maybe Kakashi couldn't stand against all of Konoha that wanted him banished or dead. He said, with another faked, embarassed laugh "Kunai...it was pretty deep, so it's only mostly healed. The scar'll be gone tomorrow."

Iruka said "You're lucky to have escaped without more injury." Naruto nodded.

Iruka asked "Does it hurt?"

"What?" Naruto's heart jumped. Had he found out?

"The kunai injury."

Naruto relaxed. "Only a little." He smiled. "I could really go for some ramen."

Iruka thought it over. They did have a free couple of days. No one had counted on any of the genin getting here this early. He sweatdropped "No one thought anyone would be finished this early. I'll have to talk to Hokage-sama so he can give you guys something to let you go and come back."

Sakura asked "How will we get back without having to go through it all again?"

Iruka said "I can take you with me, but you guys will need proof you completed so it won't be seen as cheating. I'll go talk to the Hokage. Will you be ok here for an hour or so?" They nodded. Iruka left.

He appeared at the Hokage's. "Hokage-sama..." He was surprised to find the Hokage in his office.

"Iruka?"

Iruka said "Team 7 had an encounter with Oorochimaru."

The sandaime stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Both Sasuke and Sakura said they met a shinobi that called himself Oorochimaru and summoned giant snakes."

The sandaime frowned. "Are they alright?"

Iruka said "Yes. They seemed to have beaten the snakes then Oorochimaru left. Perhaps he's just testing the strength of the leaf village."

"Perhaps." He was glad that Naruto and the others were alright, but he would get Anko and a couple of teams of anbu to comb the forest of death to find that traitor if he was still there. "Anything else, Iruka?"

Iruka said "Naruto's team finished days before the exam is over...I was wondering if you could give them something to show that they passed so they can go home or at least go to town and get something to eat."

Sarutobi nodded. He said "Bring them back the afternoon of the third day. Most will have come by then."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi wrote in three small scrolls and sealed them with his seal. They could be read by anyone chunnin level or higher and they said that each of them had passed, giving their name and day they had passed and they were allowed reentry into the lookout without repeating the course. He gave them to Iruka.

"Arigato."

"Tell Naruto congratulations for me."

"Hai. Oyasumi, Hokage-sama."

"Oyasumi." Iruka left. The Hokage called in the anbu and Anko.

Iruika went back to the lookout tower. He handed them their scrolls and said "Keep these on you." They nodded. Iruka smiled. "Congratulations on passing the second part of the chunnin exam!"

Iruka sweatdropped as Sasuke asked "Can we go now?"

"Yes, but all of you have to hold on to me." They did and Iruka transported them back into town.

T-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-T So, what do you guys think? What should happen next? R and R to let me know your opinion. Ja ne. 


	3. Chapter 3

As pointed out by my readers, I messed up a few things in this chapter, like when Naruto met Jiraiya and his connection to the rookie nine. I apologize for this and it is now corrected in this reposting. I was sick when I wrote it, if that explains anything. I also decided to give you guys another chapter, by way of apology for the confusion my mistakes caused.

Also, in answer to another thing, in my story, Kyuubi has previously, at least he had convinced himself so, that he thought of Naruto as a lousy human brat. Now Kyuubi is starting to realize he has begun to consider Naruto to be like his kit, and he has trouble coming to terms with that. The Kyuubi in my story hates humans, or at least used to.

And to answer a final question, in this story, the seal can mess with Naruto's mind because Kyuubi let it. Kyuubi could have stopped it from doing so. Kyuubi can mess with Naruto's mind, but it's difficult for him and it takes a LOT of chakra for him to do so without Naruto being in his mindscape.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII When team 7 got into town they split up to go to their various homes.

Naruto was exhausted, but he held himself up high for show until he reached his home where he fell on his bed, clutching his shoulder. It hurt...it had been a long time since he had been in pain like this. His worst beatings felt like this, but now that he was a ninja, and able to protect himself, he didn't get beaten like that anymore.

Damn it! Kyuubi had healed injuries before and the pain had gone away! He had to find someway to make it lessen. He scowled. He would sneak into the Hokage's library in the morning. For now, he would try to push the pain to the back of his mind like he had when he had been beaten. Maybe if he meditated he could do it. If only he could get a few hours of sleep...

After about a half hour, the blond fell over onto the bed asleep.

The night was not peaceful however. Naruto tossed and turned.

Everything was black, dark, he couldn't see anything around him and then suddenly Konoha was around him, in flames. Villagers were laying in the gutters dead, looking like they had been attacked by a wild animal. A sinister sounding voice came out of nowhere and said "Yes, the death of the villagers, the ones that have tormented you for so long! Doesn't it make you happy?"

Naruto looked at the sight in horror. He ran from it, from the voice, He cried "No!" and ran to the Hokage's office. The old man was dead, killed in a similar way as the villagers "No one to hold you back from becoming Hokage now!"

"No!" Naruto bolted out of the office. 'No!' He thought. The old man couldn't be dead. This wasn't happening. But his team would be ok, nothing had happend to them. He tried to reassure himself, but the feeling grew in the pit of his stomach as he ran to the Uchiha manor. Sasuke was dead in the kitchen blood pooling under him and a look of horror in his eyes "N..Naruto, why..." He coughed and tried to back away.

Naruto stared at him in horror. No, he hadn't done all of this! He hadn't done any of this! He couldn't have done any of this! He ran away again. Sakura, she would be alright. She had to be. He ran to her home to find her parents in the kitchen, also in a similar state to the villagers. He swallowed and ran upstairs, his legs starting to get wobbly. They collapsed when he found her dead too, or so the thought. He knelt down "Sakura-chan...did I do this..."He reached towards her.

Sakura was still alive as well "Naruto...you...monster." were her final words as she died. Naruto's hand drew back like he had been burnt and his heart clenched at those words. He ran again and keep running only to find all of his precious people dead. Iruka, Kakashi, the old man and girl at Ichiraku's, Konohamaru, everyone. The dark voice called out again "A demon doesn't need friends." All of the deaths hit him at once and he screamed.

Naruto woke up screaming. He buried his face in the pillow until he could stop. Tears ran down his face. Then he noticed he didn't smell of blood. Had it been a dream? His eyes opened wide. Please let it be a dream! He ran to the Hokage's office.

When he got there, he was going so fast that no one noticed him, but the Hokage wasn't in his office. It was this point that a familiar Jonin scared him out of his wits by speaking from out of nowhere. "Naruto, what are you doing here? It's four in the morning. Hokage-sama doesn't get here until 7." He showed himself to the genin.

Naruto looked at the jonin. He was alive, maybe if he was alive...everything was ok. He said "Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi looked at the boy with concern. He looked very upset. "What's wrong, Naruto? I didn't even know you had finished the exam yet."

Naruto asked "You're ok, right? Sasuke and Sakura are ok? Hokage-ojiisan is ok? Nothing happend, right?" He was shaking.

Kakashi said "No, Naruto. Everyone's fine. It's been a quiet night.Why?"

Naruto tried to smile, although he failed at the end, he was too shaky to make a good smile. He said "Just a bad dream, Kakashi-sensei. Arigato. I think I'll go back to bed now." His voice had lost a little of its shakiness through control.

Kakashi said "Oi, Naruto, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, i'm fine."

Kakashi frowned as the blond walked away. A nightmare? The boy had run in here looking like he had met with the deathgod and then he had looked at him like a ghost. He had never seen something upset the boy so much. It must have been some nightmare. He would go after him, but he was supposed to stay on guard. The boy was strong. He could handle it, couldn't he? He went back to guard duty, but didn't take out his little orange book, his mind on other things.

Back with Naruto...

Naruto knew he couldn't sleep after that, but he needed to talk to the kyuubi. He had found out how to contact him after meeting him after a particularily bad beating when he was younger. He just didn't do it a lot. He went back to his apartment and did a different type of meditation.

He found himself in front of a familiar cage and in a familiar sewer. "Fox!"

Kyuubi growled at his jailor "What is it, brat?"

Naruto yelled "Did you give me those dreams?! The pain is bad enough! Do you want me to go insane!"

Kyuubi was silent. He had done nothing. What was the brat talking about? Then he realized, it must have been the curse seal messing with the boy's mind. "No, that was that seal the snake gave you boy. I've done all that I can."

Naruto looked at the fox with a look that the fox had never seen from him before. A pleading look. "You made the seal dissapear, can't you make it...can't you make me not have nightmares like that? Please..."

Kyuubi was shocked. What the hell had the dream been about to shake up his jailor like this? The boy who was so strong willed, who could take anything that was thrown at him? He was defeated, now. He could probably get him to agree to anything, but for some reason, he didn't get the pleasure out of this that he expected. He frowned. "Brat! Show me the dream!"

"No!" Naruto cried. Now Kyuubi could smell fear coming from him and horror, but it wasn't directed at him.

Kyuubi said "Then let me look in your mind. Come over here." Naruto walked over, his mind cloudy from the fear and exhaustion. His eyes closed as the kyuubi's chakra swirled around him. The kyuubi searched the boy's mind and found the dream. The nightmare had attacked all of the boy's dreams, the reasons he had for living. He could feel residual emotions that had been attached to it and he begun to feel something.

Was it pity? No, the kyuubi growled. He did not feel pity for this pathetic weakling of a human that was his prison. He was close to escaping, then who cared what happened to the human, right? He looked at the boy and his glare softened momentarily 'The human who would trust me, who I've watched the past twelve years as he's become stronger to be broken down now by that snake...' How he hated that snake-bastard! He'd rather stay with the kit then end up with him! The Kyuubi paused, not liking where this train of thought was going. Where had that come from? He DID NOT think of the human as his kit! He shut off that train of thought and looked at the boy before him who still had his eyes closed. He thought 'Well, he should stay sane for now, I don't need the jonins coming after him yet.' The only way he knew how to do it was if he stayed here with him. He let go of the boy and said "Go back out and do a forced sleep justu, then return here."

"How do I...?" Kyuubi growled at the boy's ignorance, but showed him the signs in his mind and pushed him out.

Naruto found himself back in his real body on the outside and the pain returned and the memories of the dream. He would do anything to get away from it. He did what the Kyuubi had shown him and went back into his mindscape.

When the boy returned Kyuubi just looked at him. He didn't know what to do with him now.

Naruto asked "What do I do now?"

Kyuubi said "How should I know?"

"You told me to come back here."

Kyuubi snapped "Yeah, I know. It can't get to you here."

Naruto went silent at the mention of it. The curse seal. He sat down, then looked up. "Thanks, Kyuubi-san."

Kyuubi was startled again with the respect that the boy just gave him. He had never shown him respect before. He was speechless.

Naruto was silent for a few more minutes, then he asked "How much time goes by in here?"

"Time is relative" Kyuubi replied. When the blond looked at him he could tell that he didn't get it. He sighed "It's however long I want it to be."

"Oh."

More silence.

"What now?"

Kyuubi growled. Why had be brought the ki...He Did Not think of him as his kit! Why had he brought the boy in here in the first place?! He growled "How about making it look less like a sewer in here."

"I can do that?" Naruto looked around.

"Meditate on it." He interrupted "Don't ask me how, just do it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII So, what do you guys think of these developments? Let me know. I'll catch you later. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hello readers. Welcome to the next chapter of the Perfect Vessel.

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Naruto sat in his mindscape, meditating like the Kyuubi told him to. If he had taken the time out to think about this, he would have found it strange, but he was so relieved from getting rid of the fear he had felt from the dream and the pain that the seal caused him, that he didn't harbor any suspicions of the fox at the moment. He was just grateful.

Anyway, this sewer was gross. He pictured a nicer place. A meadow. He closed his eyes and thought and thought, picturing a grassy meadow on a sunny day with Sakura trees and a stream. It had been a place that he had found that he liked being alone in in the forest. His eyes opened when he could smell the sakura blooms and could no longer feel the wetness of the sewer water under him. He looked around and smiled. "Kyuubi-san. I did it."

Kyuubi was impressed. He didn't know the mindscape could actually be changed. Then he growled "Brat, if you could change it, why have I been living in a sewer for the past twelve years?!"

Naruto laughed nervously "Sorry?" He paused, "Besides, I couldn't come here when I was little."

Kyuubi sighed.

Naruto asked "Did I do a good job?"

Kyuubi was surprised again. The boy was looking to him for approval? What, did he trust him now? Just because he had gotten rid of his fear and pain? Again, the Kyuubi knew this was a perfect opportunity to weaken his host and to try to take over, while he was weak, but for some reason, he didn't want to betray the trust of the boy 'Damn, I'm getting soft. I don't even like humans.' He said "You did alright for a human."

Naruto grinned "Translated, that means 'Good job, kit!'"

The Kyuubi froze in shock "How did you..."

Naruto said "When you read my mind, some of yours crossed over."

The Kyuubi growled. Naruto said "You like me."

"I do not. I hate humans."

"That's not what I saw."

"I lied."

Naruto was now confused. "You can lie in your mind?" He thought on this for a minute "No you can't, you were lying now." Kyuubi growled again.

Then Naruto's grin slid off his face as an earnest look replaced it "Kyuubi, kit means kid, right? Do you really think of me as your kit?" He looked into the fox's eyes. No one had ever really thought of him as their kid before. Iruka and the Hokage were nice to him, but this was different.

Kyuubi growled again "You're getting annoying, gaki." He wanted to hit himself as he felt guilty at the look on the boy's face. Damn it, where were these stupid emotions coming from all of a sudden? He said "Fine, you read my mind. It was there. So what? Do you want something?"

"Do you mean it?" Naruto asked while looking at the Kyuubi.

"Why must you ask such annoying questions?" The Kyuubi growled.

Naruto had tears in his eyes. "Arigato, Kyuubi-san."

The Kyuubi said "If you're really grateful, let me out of here."

Naruto then frowned, a little of his former mistrust for the fox showing in his eyes "I can't. You'll hurt people again."

The Kyuubi said "I don't mean into the real world." He thought 'Not yet, at least.' "Just out of this cage, out there." He pointed to the meadow.

Naruto now looked confused. "How?"

There was a bright flash and there stood a man with long red hair and a black kimono with golden foxes on it. Nine red tails swished behind him. He said "Simple, make a bushin for me and I'll use it."

Naruto asked "I don't understand. How did you change to look like that and how could that work? Wouldn't you get out into the real world?"

Kyuubi said "All kitsune have a human form and no, I couldn't, not that way, it would just be a form of me like the form you're in now. It's not possible for me to get out into the real world while the seal is still intact"

Naruto still didn't understand, but he believed the fox and did a kage bushin, making it stronger than usual. Soon he found himself standing next to the human-ified Kyuubi.

Kyuubi smiled. Most of his chakra had been left behind in the cage, but it was almost like being outside again. There was even a breeze. He said "Good job, kid."

Naruto smiled. "Arigato, Kyuubi-san. What do I do now?"

Kyuubi said "I dunno." He lay down underneath a tree. It was nice. The kid had a good imagination. He soon found the blond's face looming over him. He said "If you're bored, train."

"I can do that here?" The boy asked in confusion.

"Yeah."

"How should I train?"

The Kyuubi growled "Geez, figure it out yourself."

There was a pause. Kyuubi sat up as he saw the boy's eyes still on him. He sighed "What?"

Naruto looked down "Well, I was hoping...maybe you'd show me a move, Kyuubi-san?" He looked up.

The Kyuubi shook his head. The kid just kept surprising him today. Now he wanted him to teach him? Then he smirked. "Sure. I've got one. Work on this for a while." He showed him a move similar to the rasengan, but invisible that worked with wind. "Go practice on the trees. Don't kill yourself. It better not get over here either or I'm coming after you." He lay back down.

"Arigato!" The boy ran off.

Kyuubi yelled "You better fix the trees afterward too!"

"Hai!"

The Kyuubi mused, It sure could get big in here. He supposed that was an advantage of a mindscape. He then smirked. He had given the boy a jutsu that used up about twice as much energy as the rasengan. He would be exhausted mentally from the training not long after he had started. Maybe then he could get some rest. He planned on making it seem like a day in here when it was really a half day outside. He would let the boy go back to the real world about midday so he could get adjusted to the real world again.

He listened to the sounds of whipping wind and the sound of leaves and branches flying and soon there was panting. 'The brat picks it up quick.' He smirked again.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH So, what did you guys think? Even though it's shorter than my usual chapters for this fic, is it an ok chapter? R and R and I'll catch you later. 


	5. Chapter 5

As I went back to look at the last chapter, I realized that it's been a little over three weeks since my last update. I'm sorry it's been taken me so long, but I really don't appreciate rudeness , like people asking me why the hell I haven't updated. I haven't been able to update some of my other fics for longer. I just don't have the time to update very frequently with my busy college schedule. I'm busy every day of the week, even the weekends with school work, classes, my job, etc, so I'd appreciate patience from everyone. Now, my little rant out of the way, onto the chapter.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Naruto panted, working on the jutsu that Kyuubi had shown him. It was less complicated than the rasengan, in some ways, but it was harder because it required more chakra and he could cut off his arm if he wasn't careful. It was also easy to lose control of.

Kyuubi jumped out of the way as a tree branch was sliced off. It would have hit him in the head. He growled and shook his fist at the boy "Brat! What did I tell you?!" He chased after him.

Naruto ran as the human form fox demon chased him. He yelled back over his shoulder, while making sure to keep running "Sorry! I didn't do it on purpose!"

Kyuubi yelled back with a growl "You're going to pay for that, you runt!"

They kept up the chase until they both grew bored with it and flopped down on the grass. Naruto said "I think we went in circles a lot, but it didn't feel like it."

Kyuubi said "This is your mind. There's enough empty space to run around in."

"Hey!"

"It's also endless space because it's not real." The Kyuubi sighed. "Looks like my free time is up." He said to himself, but Naruto heard.

"What do you mean?"

"That scarecrow jonin came to your house. You should probably wake up."

"Oh." Naruto was a little sad. He had liked it in here with the fox, although he wouldn't admit it to him, he knew Kyuubi wouldn't appreciate it anyway. "I guess I'll be going then."

Kyuubi poofed away and reappeared back in his cage. "Come back and fix the damage you did later."

Naruto smiled "Hai!" Then he frowned, remembering the pain from earlier. "Will it..."

Kyuubi said "I will help with the pain."

Naruto said "I need to get rid of the seal."

Kyuubi thought. His new feelings for the boy had him not knowing what to do. He realized he didn't want to break and take over the boy anymore, but he also didn't want to be more locked up than he was and besides..."No one in Konoha is capable of fixing it anyway, except maybe that toad summoner."

Naruto asked "Not even Kakashi-sensei?"

"I doubt it. Your yondaime and the toad summoner were the only seal masters in konoha."

Naruto smiled "I'll go find him and get him to fix it after this is over."

"He'll still tell someone."

Naruto looked at Kyuubi and smiled slyly "Not if he doesn't remember, he won't."

The Kyuubi was surprised, knowing what the boy was talking about. "When did you pick that up?"

"Earlier. The Oblivion Technique. It makes the target forget the last two to twenty four hours depending on the chakra used."

Kyuubi laughed "I like the way you think, kit. Now, get out of here, before you scare the scarecrow." He laughed at his own joke as Naruto faded back into the real world.

Naruto woke up to Kakashi standing over him, with a concerned look in his visible eye. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?"

Kakashi was relieved that the boy had woken up. He had tried calling him a few times, but he hadn't had any reaction. He said "Just came to check on you, that's all."

Naruto looked out the window. It hadn't gotten light yet. Then he looked at his clock. It was six in the morning. "This early?"

"Ah, I was just passing by. Are you alright?" Kakashi gave him a more intense look than usual. Naruto wondered what it was about and he asked Kakashi, who said "It's just you looked pretty upset last night and there was a burst of energy this morning."

Naruto thought 'Did energy come out when I was doing the attack Kyuubi showed me?' He said "I'm fine."

Kakashi asked "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk about? Like your encounter with Oorochimaru?"

Naruto jumped at the mention of the snake-sannin's name. He said "Iruka-sensei already told Hokage-jiisan about what happened."

Kakashi frowned at the boy. His training told him that the boy was hiding something, but what? In truth he had come by because the Hokage had asked him too. He had discussed Naruto's behavior the night before with Sandaime and he had been bothered by it too. Nothing seemed to scare Naruto that badly, and something that bothered Kakashi was the scar that Iruka had mentioned. He had never seen a scar on Naruto before. He had assumed that he didn't scar because of the fox's regenerative abilities. He asked "Naruto, I heard you got a scar. Can I see it?"

Naruto's hand flew to his shoulder. He said "It's gone now. It's all healed up. You know I heal fast."

Kakashi could see that Naruto was reluctant to show him his shoulder for some reason, but he had to press him. He said "It could be something Kyuubi's not able to heal, Naruto, like poison. I need to look at it."

Naruto felt like he was backed into the corner. 'what do I do? Kakashi will see it and I can't use the jutsu on him, he'd just come to see me again and he'd probably break it. He did used to be in the Anbu.'

Kyuubi thought 'Go to the bathroom and do a henge without the scar, baka.'

Naruto sweatdropped 'I didn't think of that.'

'That's why you're a baka-gaki and I'm the King of the demons.'

Naruto shook his head. The fox sure was arrogant. 'I would have come up with that eventually.'

'uh, huh.'

'I would have!' Naruto insisted, irately.

'You better go back to talking to the scarecrow. He's getting suspicious.'

Naruto looked at Kakashi, who was giving him a curious look "Neh, I got distracted, sensei. I think I'm still a little tired."

"About your scar..."

Naruto forced a yawn and whined "Can you look at it when I get back? I gotta go."

Kakashi caught Naruto's meaning and sweatdropped "Go right ahead."

In the bathroom, Naruto found he really did have to go, after that, he washed his hands and ran the water in the sink to cover any poofing sounds. Once he got it right, he cut off the water and walked out. He walked over to Kakashi.

It hadn't gotten past Kakashi how long the water had run. He raised an eyebrow "Clean hands, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged with a nervous laugh "So, I'm clean. Is that a bad thing? Do you want to look at it now?"

Kakashi was surprised that the boy offered to show him. He had seemed reluctant before. "Yes." Naruto showed him his shoulder. The scar was indeed gone. Kakashi frowned, there wasn't any evidence of the scar, but he still felt a little uneasy. He sighed and said "Okay, I guess you were right, Naruto. Just make sure you show up at noon tomorrow at the Hokage's so I can take you back to the tower, ok?"

Naruto nodded and the jonin left. When he was gone Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He had bought it. He didn't think it would work, it was The Sharingan Kakashi he was trying to fool, but it still worked. He smiled, until there was a burst of pain from his shoulder. He grimaced, but it soon subsided thanks to Kyuubi. 'Thanks, Kyuubi.' Naruto decided he's spend the day working on the jutsu that Kyuubi had shown him. He got up, got dressed, made himself some ramen and went outside to train.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Reviews and ideas are appreciated as always. What do you guys see happening next? I also don't update as quickly sometimes because I get writer's block. This is one of the reasons that I ask for suggestions at the end of most of my chapters. Anyway, RandR and i'll catch you later. 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been putting a lot of work into creating the village for my story Found in the Rain. Creating a village and creating enough OCs to live in it is a lot of work.

Another note, I noticed most of you don't want Naruto to spend so much time in his mindscape, I wasn't planning on having him spend a lot of time there after this. Also, many of you want someone to see the curse seal. I'll see what I can do with that.

And just a note, I will make it when two people with the curse seal come into contact, there will be a reaction from the seals.

Also, the reason why Naruto was eager to show Kakashi his shoulder was because he was nervous and he wanted to get it over with. Anyway, on with the story.

-  
Naruto plopped down on the ground, panting. He had been training hard since that morning, needing something to do to keep his mind off things. Even with Kyuubi's help he could still feel the mutterings of the curse mark at the back of his consciousness. As long as he didn't get angry or sad he should be fine. It was those emotions that brought his barriers down. He sighed and decided it'd be nice to take a dunk in the stream. It was a pretty hot day. He got up and went to the stream and stripped, leaving him in an orange pair of shorts. He stuck his foot in the stream. "Brrr..." He got in anyway. "Ah, feels good..." He dunked his head in and then came up and shook it.

'That feels better.' He sat there for a minute before he heard a rustling noise, startled, he turned around. 'Who...?' He noticed a familiar pink haired kunonichi. "Oi, Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?"

Sakura started. She had walked down to the stream to take a dip herself as the day had been kind of hot, but now that Naruto was here...it'd be weird. "Naruto. What are you doing here?"

Naruto answered "Just cooling off. I've been training."

Sakura asked "Training? Why? This is supposed to be a break."

Naruto said "To keep myself occupied."

Sakura shook her head.

Naruto had been watching her. He realized since she wasn't carrying anything, the only reason she would have gone to the stream was probably because she wanted to take a swim too and he realized that as much as he'd like to see Sakura in a swimsuit, he was sure she wouldn't want him too. He smiled and got out. "Ah, I was going to go get some lunch anyway. See you later, Sakura-chan."

Sakura paused, wondering why Naruto didn't ask her to go out with him or to join him. He seemed sad for a minute "Naruto?"

"Hai?" Naruto turned half back around.

"Are you okay?"

Naruto gave a little laugh "I'm fine, Sakura-chan. Just a little hungry and I think maybe I trained to hard." He rubbed the back of his head and grinned at her then walked off.

Something still bothered Sakura a little, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and got into the water with a happy sigh. It sure was a hot day.

Naruto pressed down the depression that wanted to rise at knowing that Sakura would never really like him. He sighed. Maybe some Ichiraku's would cheer him up. He walked to the bar, doing his best to ignore the glares from the villagers that he recieved. It was harder than usual with a little voice in the back of his mind constantly telling him to take revenge. He approached the bar in relief and went in "Hello, Ichiraku-san..." It was then he noticed that Sasuke was there. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Were they following him around or something?

Sasuke saw Naruto come in the bar. He had been wanting to talk to him since they had finished the second part of the exam. "D..Naruto"

Naruto stiffened a bit at Sasuke calling him by his name. He never did that. What did he want? He must want something if he's being nice. He responded like he would have if they were talking normally "Teme?"

Sasuke growled a little, but he said "I want to talk to you about the forest of death."

Naruto scowled. He said "About what? It wasn't a fun time. I'd prefer not to go over it."

Sasuke was a little worried by Naruto's behavior. He had never seen him scowl before. He still needed to know, though. He asked "What happened when we got seperated?"

Naruto thought back to meeting the snake sannin and the fight with the snakes. He remembered the pain of getting the seal and the kyuubi leaking out. He said "I fought that ugly missing nin Orochimaru. I fought him as hard as I could. After he thought he had beaten me, he left. That's it." Naruto had gotten his ramen. He ate it quickly.

Even Sasuke could tell that wasn't it. He asked "How did you fight him? The intent..."

Naruto answered, with his head turned away "I've dealt with a lot of killer intent. I'm used to it." He got up and left, leaving Sasuke to wonder what he meant.

Sasuke sat and looked at Naruto's empty bowls and the vouchers under them. What had he meant when he said that? He's dealt with a lot of killer intent? From where? Naruto hadn't been on any more missions than he had. He frowned. What was Naruto hiding?

Meanwhile, a woman named Anko was walking through the center of town when suddenly she felt a twinge from her mark. She looked around and noticed that a young blonde that she thought she recognized had just passed by her. Weird. Why would the mark react to him? She walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder to spin him around.

Naruto felt someone take his shoulder, he didn't feel killer intent, though, so he allowed it. It didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though. "What?" He looked at her for a few seconds "Oh, you're that crazy lady from the chunnin exams. What do you want?"

Anko said "That's no way to adress your superiors kid. How are you out here? Did you give up?"

"I finished yesterday."

Anko looked at the boy in surprise. Finish in the first day? That wasn't possible! Was it? She saw him go in, though. She grinned "Wow, you must have had an easy time then."

Naruto thought 'I'm not giving you any information you can use against me, crazy lady.' He said "Must have."

Anko didn't like the answer. She said "Care to tell me about it?"

Naruto smiled sweetly and said "I already told Hokage-sama. You should talk to him if you want to know. I get tired of telling the story. So many people want to know it."

Anko's neck began to throb and she put her hand on it. To her confusion the boy did as well and then his eyes widened and he put his hand down, he still had a slight grimace on his face.

Naruto noticed the pain receded and thanked Kyuubi.

Kyuubi thought 'Kit, she's going to go to the Hokage. Look at her neck. She's got one too.'

Naruto looked. 'Great...what am I supposed to do?'

'The oblivion technique.'

'What if she's on a mission or something? And it's not like she's going to sit there and let me do it.'

'Distract her.'

'How?'

'Do you remember her being distracted by anything?'

Naruto thought. The only thing he could come up with was what she had been eating. Dango...He said "Anko-san, I saw you eating Dango earlier and I was wondering what the best kind was."

Anko got stars in her eyes thinking about dango.

Naruto sweatdropped. This was going to be easier than he thought. They went into a sweetshop and Naruto waited for the right moment, which happened to be when Anko was waving some dango in front of his face. He performed the justsu using handsigns faster than he ever had before. He sat the dazed Anko down in a booth and said to the owner which was looking at him, altough he didn't seem to have seen the justsu "Heh, excuse her. She gets so excited about dango. I think she spaced out. Is it ok if she sits here for a bit until she snaps out of it. I've got to run."

"Sure. You're not going to stick around?" Naruto wondered at this man being nice to him. He must be new in town.

He said "Nah, we're going to meet up again later."

"Hey, who's paying?"

"She is." With that Naruto turned and walked out of the door. He thought 'Suits her right for being annoying.' He sighed. He hoped he could get through the rest of today and tomorrow without any more close calls.

-  
So, what do you think guys, except for the fact that I need to get a better word processor that makes better dividers? I know it's short, but I hope it was a good chapter. R and R. Jiao. 


	7. Chapter 7

I'm going to try to update every week or two from now on, since I'll have some free time, and for those of you who are anticipating the matches of the chunnin exam, I ask you to be patient for one more chapter, which should come out faster than this one. There's some compensation though, I'm letting you guys have input into the matches.. Also, please forgive me for any minor plot mistakes that I make concerning the way the original chunnin exam went. Presenting chapter seven...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anko blinked, trying to clear her head. What just happened? She was walking and then...now she was...at a dango stand? Dango! 'No, this stand isn't where I was going...was it?' She smelled the scent of the dango and she lost her train of thought. Her mouth watered and she yelled "Oi, can a girl get some dango around here?"

Meanwhile with Naruto...

Naruto tried to avoid the rest of his team as much as possible until it was time to meet back at the Hokage's office.

He walked there slowly, working on his mask, making sure that he would come off as normal as possible. He couldn't have them find out about the curse seal. He decided to track down the toad hermit and get him to do something about the seal after the exam was over.

He sensed Sakura and Sasuke coming up behind him. He tensed, but kept walking at the same pace, like he didn't notice them.

Sakura cried "Hey, Naruto. Going to the Hokage's?"

Naruto put on a happy voice "Yeah, Iruka-sensei said he'd meet us there and take us back, right? I'm really looking forward to the final part!"

Sasuke said "One would think that you'd had enough fighting for a while. Besides, we're just meeting up with the other teams. The final part isn't for a month from now."

"Heh, I forgot."

"Baka."

Naruto had actually forgotten about the month in between parts. He frowned. Should he go look for the toad hermit during the month? He would have an excuse to go looking for him... soon they made it back to the office.

The Hokage looked at Naruto. The boy had been acting strangely since he had finished the Chunnin exam. That the man who he had run into was Orochimaru worried him further. He said "Congratulations, Naruto. Are you ready to go meet back up with the other teams?"

"Hai, Ojii-san!"

Some of the happiness in Naruto's voice was real. In truth, he was glad that he wouldn't have to fight until a month from now. A fight would probably aggravate the curse seal and now he could go get the curse seal fixed before he had to fight.

Sandaime looked at Naruto. The boy seemed to be fine today. Maybe he was alright afterall. Perhaps Iruka was right and Orochimaru had just been testing the strength of the leaf village. There had been no sign of his former student in the forest, after all. It didn't make complete sense, but he supposed he should just be glad that the genins came out in one piece. He said "Ok, then. Iruka, take them back to the tower."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." He took them back to the tower.

When they got there, Naruto noticed that all of the genin teams had made it there. When Iruka left, Kiba walked up to him. "Naruto, what are you doing here? Did you fail or something?"

Sakura said "We finished on the first day. Iruka-sensei let us go home for a couple of days."

Kiba looked in disbelief 'Finish on the first day? But we barely got out this morning!' He said "Prove it."

Sasuke sighed and tossed Kiba one of their scrolls. He read it and was left with his jaw on the floor. 'How could the idiot's team have finished that fast? Even with that Uchiha jerk...that's got to be a record or something.'

Naruto had walked off several minutes before. He looked around. None of them seemed to have been in too bad of a shape, though many seemed to have been injured. With a sinking feeling, Naruto saw how many genins had passed. The final part of the exam wasn't made for so many to take it. He hoped this wouldn't mean preliminary fights.

With it being so necessary to keep good control over his emotions, he decided to go hang out with someone who wouldn't put him on edge. He went over to Hinata. She seemed nice enough and she didn't talk much. "Hey, Hinata."

Hinata was shocked that her crush was now standing beside her and talking to her "H..hi, N..naruto. H..how d..did you d..do?"

Naruto looked at her and faked a smile "Heh, I got lucky. How about you?"

"W..we p..passed okay."

"That's good."

Hinata's face was beet red. Naruto thought 'Why does she act like that when I come around her? She's done that before. Kyuubi?'

'Don't ask me for help for your ningen problems, gaki. Although...' The fox snickered 'It seems the female child wants to be your mate.'

'What?!' Naruto blushed. 'What the hell? She just stutters and blushes around me. That means she likes me, like that?'

'Not that I care, but she's not a bad ningen for your mate. She comes from a powerful clan.'

'She's a nice girl. That's why I came over. I knew she wouldn't harass me about passing early, but, she really likes me like that? What would she think if she knew about you? She'd hate me too like the others. I...' Naruto was elated on one hand, that someone maybe loved him, but he knew that if she knew the truth, it would go away. It would hurt them both less if she knew. He could get the doubt over with now and she could get on with her life...

Kyuubi sent 'Now's not the best time to let your secret out, kit. She's probably not going to take it well. Do you want everyone in the stadium to know?'

Naruto frowned 'I'll tell her later, after the tournament, then.' The thought of her reaction made his heart clench and his neck throb. 'Damn it. I've got to keep control of these emotions. No extremes! I can't afford for this thing to activate. Kyuubi's seal won't stop it completely.' He realized Hinata had been talking to him. He said "Nani? I didn't hear you."

Hinata blushed redder "I..I a..asked i..if you w..were okay."

Naruto managed a half smile "I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Hinata thought 'He looked so sad for a moment. I wonder what he was thinking about.'

Naruto thought 'Who would ever want to be my girlfried, Kyuubi? I've been chasing after Sakura as a ruse. I know she would accept me even less than Hinata. She doesn't even accept me the way I present myself now.'

Kyuubi sent 'I thought you were getting off that subject. Talk to the girl.'

Just then the Hokage made an announcement. Naruto barely contained a groan as he heard it. There were going to be preliminaries and what was worse, they were going to start immediately.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I know, this was a short chapter. Gomen for that, I would have gone ahead and done the preliminaries in this chapter, but I hadn't decided whether to do canon matchups yet, or to alter the matchups a little in light of recent events in the story (i.e. Naruto's curse mark). I would appreciate some feedback on this. Because I can only get on the internet once week for a while, and I need feedback for the next chapter, it may be two weeks before I can update again, gomen for that, but it can't be helped. Well, don't forget to RandR. Ja ne. 


	8. Chapter 8

I had someone else comment about how Orochimaru is coming for Naruto, but I think things will stray a bit more from the canon than they have already as Kakashi doesn't know about Naruto's curse seal, so he won't go off to get him sealed after his match and Orochimaru won't try to get him while it's just the two of them.

Also, as I post this, I realize that I forgot that I hadn't posted this and the next chapter yet, so a treat for you readers, I'm posting three chapters today. Enjoy!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto listened to the instructions from the Hokage with anxiety, for once in his life, wishing he wasn't up to fight soon. He watched the screen and groaned. He was first to fight. Wonderful. He sighed.

Kiba said "Lucky, you're first to fight too!"

Hinata said "Ano...should the preliminaries start this soon?"

Naruto tried a smile at her, though he didn't feel it. "I'll be fine."

Sasuke and Sakura were somewhat disturbed by how serious Naruto was still acting. Naruto saw this and worried that they would get suspicious of him soon. He laughed "Heh, when I beat this loser, you wanna fight, sasuke-teme?"

Sasuke smirked. That was more like the Naruto he knew. Sakura rolled her eyes, but Naruto could tell she was less suspicious of him now. Naruto jumped down and was at once uneasy. There was something off about this man he was fighting. He smelled...familiar...who was he? He listened to the announcer start the match 'Yoroi Akado...I don't know the name, but still...

Akado looked at the boy in front of him. Lord Orochimaru had set him up to fight with him. He could feel the chakra coming from him and wasn't surprised that Orochimaru had picked the boy. Once the Kyuubi merged with him, he could be the most powerful ninja on the face of the earth. He didn't look it now though. Akado was looking forward to tasting the boy's chakra though. Through his modifications, he was able to use other chakra without it being poisonous to his coils. He should even be able to handle the yokai chakra.

Naruto said, annoyed "Are you going to start the fight, or what?"

Akado snapped out of his thoughts with a scowl. Then he smirked "Why, are you scared to make the first move?"

Normally, Naruto would have shot at him for that, but he really wasn't in the mood to fight. Then he thought 'The sooner I can get this over with, the better...' He said "Fine." He rushed at him. He would avoid using chakra if he could. After getting knocked down several times, he remembered that his taijutsu sucked. 'Crap, I'm gonna have to use chakra. Still, I should be fine as long as I keep my emotions under control.' Still something was bothering him. He found out what it was when he got close with a strike. He smelled of snake. Naruto felt a growl rise within his chest as his anger did. 'Oro-teme! He's still around here somewhere! And this guy is probably one of his lackeys' He felt his shoulder start to throb and tried to bring his emotions under control.

Up in the stands...

Anko felt her shoulder start to throb at the old place where the curse seal was. However, she wasn't thinking of a certain blonde. She thought 'Is Orochimaru here, watching?' She looked around. She didn't see him and there were guards about. Maybe she was wrong and it was just acting up for no reason...even though that hadn't happened before... She decided to ignore it when the pain lessened.

Down on the stage...

Akado taunted "That all you got, kid? I've been wiping the floor with you so far. Your taijutsu is terrible. Did you run out of chakra too?"

The anger turned to a need for vengeance. Naruto smirked and thought darkly 'I may not be able to get to that snake bastard now, but I can take care of this loser.'

He felt Kyuubi in the back of his head urging him on, also recognizing the snake and the other voice also agreed, willing to do anything that might lead to bloodshed. He grinned feraly and said "You haven't seen half of what I can do." Wisps of red chakra became visible around Naruto and blue chakra became visible too. Naruto charged.

When Naruto had gotten in range, Akado grabbed him, feeling a rush as he drained the boy's chakra. It just kept coming.

Naruto was enraged as was immobilized and he felt chakra leaving him, a lot of his own chakra. He broke free, weakened, but soon more red chakra flowed out to replace that he had lost. He growled and said "You bastard. How did you do that?"

Akado was full. He couldn't process any more chakra. The amounts the boy already had was incredible and it seemed he had free access to the Kyuubi's chakra as well. He wasn't even drawing upon the curse seal!

Up in the stands...

Kakashi and the rest of the adults who knew who Naruto was were alarmed. Was the Kyuubi breaking free?

Sasuke asked "What's that red chakra?"

Sakura asked "What did that weird guy do? It seemed like Naruto was down for a minute, then he got back up again."

A man they didn't recognize said "It's a chakra draining technique. It is unusual for Yoroi to reach his limit like that. The boy must have kage level chakra storage..." He looked at Kakashi. "Quite remarkable."

Kakashi was uneasy. He knew how Naruto had so much chakra. It was the Kyuubi. He was relieved when he was summoned by the Hokage. The stranger was close to the secret.

Sarutobi said "Kakashi."

"Hai?"

The Hokage looked uncomfortable as he said "If...it shows signs of breaking the seal..."

Kakashi frowned under his mask "Hai, I know what to do."

Down on the stage...

Naruto smirked and said,quietly, but menacingly "Full? You can't stop now, you haven't even eaten all of mine and you've barely touched Kyuubi's." He ran up and grabbed Yoroi's hands and forcefed him his chakra.

Yoroi cried out in pain after a couple of minutes of struggling from the boy's suddenly iron grip and passed out.

Hayate knew a defeat when he saw it. He walked up and said "This match is over. Uzumaki Naruto advances."

Naruto smiled, briefly and took his time walking back up to the balcony. He revelled in the feeling he had gotten from the fight though and from the look on the sound genin's face when he realized what he was doing. He laughed quietly, but by the time he had gotten there, he had his mask back up.He looked out to the stands 'I hope you were watching Oro-teme. I'll do much worse to you.' He went back to his seat in the bleachers and took note of the next fight. He felt all eyes on him. It was acting time.

"Wasn't I cool?" He boasted.

Kakashi said "Naruto, out there...what did you do?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi and grinned "I kicked his butt, weren't you paying attention?"

Kakashi had a serious look as he said "I mean how."

Naruto looked quickly at his shoulder. It had stopped throbbing after he had satisfied it by defeating the sound genin. The mark was still hidden because of Kyuubi's seal. The scar was still there, but he had covered it up with some concealer he had bought while in disguise in town the day before. He silently thanked Kyuubi for his seal. He didn't need the council breathing down his neck right now. He said "Well, he was sucking away my chakra, but I kept bringing it out. I think he took more than he could handle." He grinned.

Kakashi had also looked at Naruto's shoulder when he had. Nothing...still, his student had been acting strange. He asked "That doesn't seem like you."

Naruto said "Well, he was faster than me, and " He laughed embarassed, "My taijutsu kinda sucks, so it was the only thing I could think of."

Kakashi accepted this explanation for the moment.

Sasuke said "You had it lucky."

Sakura asked "Do you think he's dead? He looked pretty bad."

Naruto said "Oh no! Do you think I killed him? I didn't mean too..." He looked down, seemingly distraught. His act seemed to convince the others, but inwardly he was grinning 'I hope I killed that bastard, maybe it'll show his master who he's dealing with.'

Hinata walked over. "Ano...Naruto-kun..."

Naruto looked up and smiled "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blushed "A..Are you h..hurt?"

Naruto grinned "I'm fine, I can beat anybody I come up against."

Hinata said "I...well, I b..brought you t..this." She handed him a little pot.

He opened it and sniffed it. "What is it?"

Hinata blushed more. "S..Salve."

"Oh, thanks. Hinata-chan!" He took it out and put it on the cuts he had gotten. Hinata smiled and walked away, still blushing.

Naruto thought 'The next fight's Aburame against another one of those soundnin. I bet this one's another one of the snake bastard's lackeys.' He smirked slightly, now more interested than before 'I wonder how bug boy will do against one of Oro-teme's henchman.'

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Sorry the chapter's so short, but I wanted to post Naruto's fight and I'm not sure if I'll be online at all next week. I know it wasn't as dark as some of you may have hoped, but I don't think it would be appropriate to take him from being the good guy to evil so quickly. The only reason why he was dark in this fight was because he felt he was getting revenge against Orochimaru. If you're wondering about Orochimaru coming after Naruto, this Orochimaru's going to be a bit more patient. I'm thinking of having him screw with Naruto during the third stage of the exams and trying to get him then. Let me know what you think of the idea.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, fans. Here's the next chapter of the Perfect Vessel. I also have a new chapter out on Found in the Rain, for those of you reading that fic as well. 

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Naruto watched the fight in satisfaction. The bug boy did a rather thourough job of defeating the sound-nin. Kind of gruesome really, making the nin's arms explode, but he liked it. Sound nin deserved it, working for that snake bastard.

He didn't pay attention to the next fight, but showed some interest in the one after. It was Sakura and the loud mouthed blonde haired girl she seemed to be friends with. He watched the fight with some disdain. The fight was ridiculous. They didn't fight like true ninjas. Of the two, the blonde was the better fighter, at least she knew a decent jutsu. He watches silently as the blonde girl traps his teamate in a mind jutsu and makes her give up. 'Pathetic. Maybe if she had done something but be a fangirl to sasuke she could have turned out to be a decent kunoichi.' He put his mask back up when she returned to the stage. She looked completely humiliated. He said "It's ok, Sakura-chan, you'll..."

Sakura cried "Shut it Naruto! I got taken down by one jutsu! What kind of ninja am I?" Tears ran down her face. Naruto would usually do some comforting thing, although he really didn't feel like it. He said "Well, just train harder next time. You'll make it. You haven't spent much time training." His team looked at him, surprised by his serious answer.

Naruto ignored them and watched the next fight. Again, it was between two kunoichi. One was from leaf and the other from sand. He put his money on the one from sand. He watched the fight. He was right, it was brutal and over fast. He liked the way she took care of business though. Now she was a kunoichi worth respect!

He watched the next fight with a little less interest until he noticed that the lazy shadow user was paired up against another nin from sound, then he frowned, suddenly more interested. He scowled as she seemed to be winning, but then smirked at the end when Shikamaru won by backing her into a wall. 'I suppose one can afford to be lazy when you can do things like that. I wish that wasn't a bloodline trait. It'd be a good jutsu to have.'

The next match was his other team mate against the dog boy, Kiba. The Uchiha took care of Kiba without a lot of trouble with a few of his fancy fire attacks and some taijutsu. Not a very interesting match, though. He did like the look he saw on his face, but he decided against calling him out. Mocking wasn't something that he was known to do. He needed to keep his mask perfect to avoid suspicion for the rest of the exam.

In the eighth match, the Hyuugas fought each other. Naruto had stayed silent in the other fights, but Neji had always irked him and he thought that Hinata had the potential to be a good ninja if she got over her confidence problem. He listened to Neji mock her and could only stand it up to a point. He yelled "Don't listen to him, Hinata! You can beat him! You're stronger than you think! Don't let other people keep telling you you're weak. Show them how strong you are! You can do it!"

Hinata looked up, in the crowd. Just as she had been feeling most down and Neji's words had begun to take effect, he had called down and his words heartened her. Naruto believed in her. He thought she was strong, and that meant the world to her. She felt her confidence return and thought 'I will not make Naruto-kun a liar! I will give this everything I have!' She turned back to Neji with determined eyes.

"I will not give up!"

Neji frowned "It's your funeral."

They began fighting. Naruto frowned when he noticed that even though Hinata was giving it everything she had, the arrogant Neji was still beating her and mocking her while he was doing it. It made him angry. He grabbed his shoulder. 'Teme...' When he noticed that he was beginning to feel rage, he closed his eyes 'Crap! I can't lose control. Someone will find out what happened!'

The Kyuubi sounded in his mind 'Direct your killer intent at him. That will throw him off balance.'

'Won't everyone else feel it?'

'No, not if I help.'

Naruto let the Kyuubi have some control and smiled as he focused his full killer intent upon Neji.

Down on the ground, Neji froze, feeling like the temperature around him had just dropped to freezing. He couldn't move. It was then that Hinata used Hakke Rokujuyon Sho, Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms. All of them hit as Neji was paralyzed. He fell, weaked from the fight and the attack of the killer intent.

Naruto's killer intent vanished and he smiled. "Good going Hinata!" She looked up and waved at him, though she looked a little confused. "Winner Hyuuga Hinata." Naruto smiled further, it seemed no one else had picked up on him using his killer intent on Neji.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. The air had seemed a little colder a minute ago, what was that about? Oh well, maybe he was imagining it. Naruto didn't seem to be the cause of it. He seemd to be back to his happy self. It was strange that the Hyuuga boy just froze in the middle of the match like that.

Naruto stretched. There were only two fights left. He smirked as he saw the Hyuuga boy being carried away in a stretcher, but was quick to hide it. Hinata came up. He walked over "Good job, Hinata. I knew you could do it!"

Hinata blushed, her thoughts of the weirdness of how the fight turned out gone at her crush's praise. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."

He grinned "You didn't stutter!"

Hinata blushed more "A..ano..."

Naruto smiled "How about we get something to eat after this is over, just the two of us?"

Hinata passed out. "Hinata?"

Kurenai came over with a smile. She said "I think she's a bit tired from the fight. It was something."

Naruto nodded "Yeah, she was great."

"Yes, but don't you think it was weird how Neji just stood there and let her hit him?"

Naruto shrugged. "The guy seems to have a lot on his mind. Is Hinata going to be ok?"

Kurenai smiled once more. Naruto was relieved. It seemed she wasn't suspicious of him, as he had at first feared, she continued "She'll be fine. I'm sure she'll want to go eat with you. Come meet us after the preliminaries are over."

"Hai." Naruto wandered around, back to the area where he had been standing, but stopped when he saw who was fighting in the next fight. It was a red haired boy against that kid who was a clone of his teacher. Seeing the red haired boy made him excited. He was strong. Suddenly he felt himself itching for a fight, then he realized that it wasn't really him, it was the seal. It wanted to fight and it was starting to throb. He thought 'Kyuubi, do something...'

Kyuubi responded gruffly 'I did what I can, suppress it yourself.'

Naruto watched the match. It was going much as he expected, with the red haired boy winning, then Lee started to glow "What the...what technique is that?"

A voice next to him said "Lee is opening up the gates."

Naruto looked up. He had somehow wandered next to the clone boy's instructor. He looked worried. "The gates?"

"If he uses the technique for too long or opens up any more gates, he could die." Naruto watched in amazement as the boy in spandex starting beating the red haired boy and beating him good. It was a complete reversal of the match so far. He was impressed and a little dissapointed as it seemed the red haired kid took back control with his sand. Only a little dissapointed though, now he felt himself wanting to fight with the red haired boy. It would be a great fight...It was then that the boy locked eyes with him and broke his opponents arm and leg. The grin that the red haired boy gave him was a challenging one; bloodthirsty. Naruto returned it for the briefest of moments, then said "Man, that was brutal."

Kakashi again thought he felt or saw something strange, but it was as if when he blinked, it was gone. He shrugged.

Naruto was highly annoyed with the number of sound nin that made it to the preliminaries. He thought 'I should have taken them out in the forest of death!' He started to get angry again 'For serving him they should die! Oro-teme...' He just stopped himself from growling and put his mask back firmly in place just in time. Kakashi chose that second to look his way. Naruto wanted to do something, but he didn't dare something like last time. He scowled, but the sound genin had won the match. He consoled himself with the fact that he had been the only one who had. He was relieved, however, when the matchups were over. 'Now I can go get rid of this thing.' Unbidden, images of the red haired boy popped up in his mind and he felt the desire to fight him again. Then, images of Hinata. 'Oh, that's right.' He went to talk to her.

On the way over, he nearly ran into the red haired boy and the blonde haired kunoichi from earlier. He was about to walk past when she stopped him "Hey, who are you, kid? I saw your fight. What did you do to him?"

Naruto looked at her, studying her. He asked "I overloaded his chakra coils."

"That's kind of brutal for a leaf nin. You almost killed him. He might die."

Naruto said "He's still alive then?" With some disinterest mixed in with dissapointment.

Temari frowned. This blonde kid was strange. Suddenly she got the chills. The blonde kid and her brother were staring at each other.

Gaara felt Shukaku start to scream at him from within his mind 'Kill! kill!! There will be so much blood! And it will last!' Gaara began to grin.

Temari shivered. Hadn't the fight with the other boy been enough? Gaara had already killed others before his match. Was he still bloodthirsty? What chilled her more was to see the blonde stare back at Gaara, not with a scared look like she expected, but a matching bloodthirsty grin.

"Naruto!"

Naruto shook his head, snapping out of it, when he heard someone call his name. He turned around "Oi, Hinata, how'd you get over here?"

She blushed "I walked around, I thought maybe you couldn't hear me..." She shuffled her feet, her voice getting softer and softer.

Naruto said "Oh, sorry, Hinata. Let's go get some ramen."

"O..ok." She blushed harder as Naruto grabbed her hand. She left with him.

Temari thought 'Another boy like Gaara? That one gives me just as bad a case of chills as Gaara, if not worse. Who is he?'

Gaara said "I want to fight him"

Temari didn't think it was the time to remind her brother of the mission and the rules, though she did say "It may have to wait until the tournament a month from now, Gaara."

Gaara said "No. I want to fight him now!"

Temari said "The fight will be better in the tournament, Gaara, besides, if you fight outside the tournament, there will be leaf nin after you and you don't want to ruin the plan, do you?"

Gaara scowled and looked at his big sister threateningly. He said "I don't care about what father wants to do."

Temari hoped that meant he would leave the boy alone. If they got into a fight, she felt that, for some reason, it would be one that would get a lot of attention, the bad kind and father would kill her and kankuro if his plan failed. She would have said that he would have killed Gaara too, but everyone knew that Gaara couldn't be killed. She frowned, thinking back to the fight with the green spandex kid. He had hurt Gaara; something that she didn't think was possible. This kid...that was so like Gaara...what was he capable of?

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So, what do you think guys? RandR.


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter you guys. Let me know what you think of it.

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Naruto was enjoying his date with Hinata, for the most part. He just had to push away the voices in the back of his head that told him she really hated him. The thing he liked the most was how she was quiet, not like sakura or Ino.

His thoughts went back to the red haired boy. What was his name? He thought for a few minutes "Gaara." He asked 'Kyuubi, Gaara's not a normal genin. What is he?'

Kyuubi said 'I sensed the Ichibi's presence. That boy is a jinchurichi, like you.'

Naruto was only a little surprised. He had expected something like this when he had felt and seen how powerful Gaara was. He realized someone was talking to him and refocused back to the real world. "Nani?"

Hinata blushed "Oh, I..I asked i..if y..you were ok."

Naruto said "Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking." He smiled at her.

Hinata asked "Ano...a.are you g.going to t.train?"

Naruto thought. He had been going to go find the hermit and ask him to get rid of the stupid seal on his neck, but he couldn't tell her that and he couldn't tell her about going to seek him out. He said "You bet! I'm going to rule in the real fights!" he grinned one of his fake grins.

"W.who are y.you going to t.train with?"

Naruto said "Heh, I hadn't thought about that. I guess I'll ask Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said because he thought that's what would be expected of him though he really didn't want to train with the perverted Jonin. His team leader had done very little in helping him train, he had only helped and cared about Sasuke. He shook his head to clear his mind of the negative emotions that were starting to build up. He asked "What about you?"

Hinata said "I'll train with kurenai-sensei, and f.father." She paused and looked at him more closely "Do you know why Neji stopped like that during our fight? He was looking at you."

Naruto frowned. He had been hoping that she wouldn't ask that question. He shrugged "Beats me, Hinata-chan. Maybe the sun caught off my hair or something." He grinned at her. She blushed and they ate as their food got there. Hinata had let it drop after the chan comment. As Naruto walked back to his house, he thought back with a smile on the girl. 'She's nice, not at all like Neji. I wonder if she might still like me if I told her...'

He was assaulted with images in his mind of the girl running screaming, or standing there with horror. Naruto muttered "Ok, I get it. Shut up." He didn't know which one it was giving him the images, but he didn't want them right now. He sat on his bed when he got back home, thinking.

"How am I supposed to find the old guy anyway?" He lay back on his bed. It was something he hadn't really thought about until now. He guessed it wouldn't hurt to try to get some information out of Kakashi, though he'd have to be careful. He got up, deciding to go look for his perverted sensei. He knew of a good couple of places to check. He left and jumped across the rooftops. On his way to the bookstand where his sensei bought his orange books, he passed by the hotsprings. Standing outside the bath house was a man with long, spiky white hair. He said "Hey."

The man said "Quiet, kid."

"Who are you? I don't recognize you."

"Leave me alone. I'm busy."

"Too busy to talk for a minute?"

"Yes. Go away, gaki."

Naruto was annoyed. He knew what to do, though. He smirked and yelled "There's a pervert!" A scream went up and soon the women were out chasing the white haired man. Naruto watched from the building he had jumped up on top of. He laughed. Served the pervert right. He should know better than to spy at a bath house that kunoichi used. After a few minutes, the man doubled back. He was bruised up and looked like he had at least one black eye. Naruto laughed from his perch on top of the building.

Jiraiya looked up at the kid in annoyance. He had gotten him caught. "Get down here kid."

Naruto jumped down. "So, who are you, besides an old pervert?"

Jiraiya cried "I am Jiraiya, the mighty and powerful toad sannin..."

Naruto cut him off, introducing himself "Uzumaki Naruto."

Jiraiya looked down at the boy surprised. This was His son? He frowned. "Why are you outside the bath house anyway, kid? You called me a pervert, but you're kinda young aren't ya?"

Naruto blushed a little, despite himself and said "I was looking for my sensei."

"At a bath house? Who's your sensei?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

Jiraiya said "I know him. He's my best customer."

"Of what?"

"My books. The Icha Icha series."

Naruto was incredulous. The great toad sannin wrote those perverted books that his sensei was always reading instead of training them? Were all adults like that? He sighed. Meeting the sannin was unexpected. He hadn't planned out what to do. He couldn't just come up with it now, could he? He opened his mouth to talk to the sannin, then was struck with a headache and all went black.

Naruto found himself within his mind 'What's going on. Kyuubi?' He wasn't by the cage though. He was somewhere that was pitch back. He couldn't see anything.

A voice said "You cannot tell the sannin. The chunnin exams are not over. Do you want to be a genin forever?" Naruto frowned. "The sannin will report to the Hokage and you will become a threat."

Naruto frowned again "I'll use the oblivion jutsu."

"He is a sannin. He could undo it." Naruto frowned. Was that possible? He hadn't thought of that. Then he frowned "Who's talking?" He had thought it sounded like Kyuubi for a moment. Kyuubi's voice said "Wait until after the tournament."

"What then?" Naruto asked "I want to get rid of this seal!" There was a burst of pain from the seal. He winced "Kyuubi, you said you'd take care of it."

Kyuubi's voice said "I will try to control the seal as much as I can, but I can no longer control the pain all of the time." Naruto grimaced.

Kyuubi snarled in his cage. There was a blackness covering his cage now that he could no longer see through. He had thought he had taken care of the seal. Now, when he tried to talk to Naruto, he couldn't. He growled. He didn't have access to Naruto's senses anymore either, so he had no idea what was going on. He felt it was going to be bad, though.

"I can help you undo the seal if you get the scroll of sealing."

"The one in the Hokage's office?"

"Yes, it's the one your father used."

The Kyuubi raged. Now he could hear what was going on, but nothing else. It was like being blind. He hated it. He growled as he heard what the curse was doing to his kit. How was the snake doing this? Did he leave a part of his mind behind or something, and how did he know that the yondaime was the kit's father?

Naruto paused, in shock. "What? What did you say?"

"Your father used the scroll of sealing. He created the seal."

Naruto frowned "My father used the seal, to seal you in me, but...the yondaime sealed Kyuubi into me. The fourth is my dad?!" Naruto felt a storm of emotions because of this. Anger, that no one had told him. Pride, that his father was such a powerful shinobi. Sorrow, that his father had done this to him. This soon turned to anger also. Memories arose of how alone he was, of how much pain he endured because of the villagers, all because the yondaime had chosen him, his own son, to be a sacrifice! Anger rose, turning into rage and Naruto felt pain surge through his whole being. He went back to the real world and saw the sannin poking him in the head. Naruto growled.

Jiraiya was startled when he saw the boy's eyes flash red. But as soon as he saw it, it was gone. The boy jumped up as suddenly as he had fell down and ran. While Jiraiya was thinking about whether or not he should go after him, he had dissapeared.

In an inn closeby...

Gaara was on the balcony of the apartment they were staying in, his mind on the blonde boy. Suddenly, his sand came up to protect him. He looked down. The boy from before! He scowled at the attack, but then grew excited. He wanted to fight him, to see his blood and now he had his chance.

Naruto's rage had directed him to a balcony where he saw the red haired jinchuriki. He was overcome with a desire to fight, to kill. He threw kunai and shuriken at him. "Come down!" He cried.

Gaara jumped down, the sand cushioning his fall. He grinned "I will enjoy this. You will prove my existence."

Naruto matched his grin "Nice words for someone who's going to soon be torn into shreds." His voice had gone lower, had a more feral ring to it now. All of a sudden the pain flared up and Naruto grunted, feeling a lot of his strength going with it, but then, after, there was this incredible feeling of power, much more potent than that of his or the Kyuubi alone. He revelled in it and then the bloodlust came back full force. He cried "Fight me!" He ran at the red haired boy.

Gaara saw that the boy now had claws and a red/purple chakra was wisping around him. Marks had come out to cover his body. He was too fast for the sand! He crashed into the side of a building as the boy struck. He picked himself up, grinning wider, an insane grin. He could transform too. His sand started to surround him.

Naruto attacked the ball of sand, starting to break through it, when he saw an eye looking back at him. He got through the ball of sand and was met with something half boy half monster and he was struck with a blast of sand. He crashed into another building. "Let's get serious."

Gaara grinned, bloodthirsty. Naruto matched it as the fight took its way into the middle of the city, managing to demolish at least one building.

After the first crashing noise, an anbu was sent out to invesigate and had reported back. The Kyuubi brat was fighting with one of the sand nin, who also seemed to be a monster. They were going to destroy the city.

Sandaime frowned. If Kyuubi had broken the seal...he gathered up ten of his best jonin and anbu by summons and lead them to the scene of the fight. When he got there, he saw a scene of destruction. Two buildings had been destroyed and there was damage to many more. What he saw horrified him. The sand nin was half transformed into some sort of demon and Naruto had red and purple chakra swirling around him. When he got a better look at him, he gasped, seeing swirls of black all over the boys' body. A curse mark! The anbu were already running in to interfere. The jonin he had called stayed back and watched the anbu get thrown back by the fight. They waited for the Hokage's order.

The third frowned, unsure what to do. He didn't know what was happening. The boy had one of Orochimaru's curse seals. That seemed to be what was happening. More chakra was purple than red. Why hadn't anyone mentioned this? In any case, this fight had to be stopped. He turned to the jonin and anbu still standing and said "Stop the fight. Be careful. Don't kill either of them unless absolutely necessary." They nodded.

Both Gaara and Naruto were angry at being interrupted. Naruto growled when he saw Kakashi come up to him. "Kakashi. You've been nothing but a hindrance to me." He struck him out of the way to continue his fight with Gaara, the one he was really interested in fighting. The jonin went flying, then picked himself up to regroup with the others. Then Naruto saw the Hokage. His rage flared up more. He broke from the fight with Gaara for a minute and yelled "How could you not tell me! My father!" He struck out at the Hokage and was surrounded on all sides by anbu and jonin. He growled and threw them off. "He did this to me! Why me! Why?! You never told me!"

The Hokage grew alarmed as the red chakra started to mix in evenly with the purple and as the boy kept throwing anbu away. He supposed he should be grateful that the men were still alive, that the possessed Naruto seemed more interested in continuing his fight with the sand nin than killing the men. They needed a better technique. Maybe someone could still appeal to the boy. He had it. "Uminno Iruka. Kakashi," He turned to look for the Jonin.

Kakashi was already gone, showing up within minutes with the academy teacher.

As Naruto got back into the fight with Gaara, he ran into someone in front of him and paused for an instant before he tore into him. He focused with a look of some confusion on his face. It was someone familiar..a friend?

'You have no friends.'

"Naruto, please, stop this!"

Naruto shook his head, trying for a moment to clear it of rage. The voice, he trusted it. It was a good voice. Who did it belong to? The marks began to recede. "Iruka? Iruka-sensei?" Naruto clutched his shoulder.

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Another cliffhanger, I hope you guys don't kill me for this one. At this point, Naruto could go either way. What do you guys think should happen? RandR. Ciao. 


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you everyone for your reviews. I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go, but you guys have given me the push I needed. Special thanks to: Mistical Kat, ShrapnelMan and grumpywinter. Sorry about the shortness, but I figured you guys would perfer a faster update with a shorter chapter, than a longer chapter and waiting longer for it.

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Naruto clutched his shoulder at the sharp pain flowing through it. His head felt fuzzy. He groaned "What? Why..." He looked around and just then he was piled on by anbu. He looked. The red haired boy was gone. He tried to break free, then found the Hokage in front of him as he was still held in place by the anbu. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sandaime sighed and saw all the harm this fight had caused. The boy had tried so hard to be accepted, and now this. He said "Bring him to my office. Iruka, Kakashi, I want you too. Genin, stay with your jonin teachers, Sasuke, Sakura, stay with Kurenai."

The black haired, red eyed woman looked at the Hokage, still in shock from what had just happened. She looked down at her charges. She thought she could even see shock coming from the stoic Shino and Hinata looked dazed. She said "I will take good care of them."

The Hokage turned to the villagers "Back to your homes, there is nothing more to see." They dispersed and Kakashi and Iruka followed behind the Anbu who escorted Naruto to the Hokage's office, zipping along the rooftops.

Naruto was forced to his knees by six anbu and more than one kunai held to his neck. He said "Ojiisan..."

A kunai pressed farther into his neck "Adress your kage with respect, demon."

Naruto's heart panged at the look the old man was giving him as he looked up. The rage was gone, all there was was a bottomless sadness now. He had never seen the old man look at him with those eyes. Eyes like the villagers, like he was expecting him to attack. He looked down, tears forming. Memories began to filter back, still vague. He remembered, he had attacked him. When he found out...He asked, quietly, sadly "Why, why didn't you tell me?" His voice caught. "You knew."

Iruka said "If you would have known, you would have told everyone."

Kakashi continued "The fourth had a lot of enemies. You'd have been in more danger than you were already."

Naruto felt himself slip farther into his personal pit of despair. "You both knew. Does everyone know but me? Another secret no one saw fit to tell me?"

Sandaime said "No, only Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka and myself know. You probably just let everyone else know who didn't."

Two of the council members walked in. "Sandaime, it is time to meet about the current...situation." He looked at Naruto with disgust, like he was something that had crawled from the sewer.

Naruto waited with his head hung, crying on the inside, not aware that tears ran down his face as he hung his head. He had thought he had people who cared about him. He was wrong. They all just wanted to manipulate him or they didn't want him at all. No one loved him.

Iruka looked at his young former charge with mixed feelings. He had identified with the boy, but what he had done and what he had seen, he wasn't sure any more about him. Was he really the Naruto he knew, or had he really become a monster?

Inside the meeting...

The hokage walked in and sat down.

The meeting started quickly. "You are all aware of what occured in the city today. The jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto destroyed several buildings downtown, displaying the demon's energy and a seal from Orochimaru. The seal is weakening. We should execute him before the kyuubi breaks free."

Sandaime said "The seal is intact. The boy seems to have no memory of what took place. The seal Orochimaru uses has an affect on the mind..."

"The 'boy' told you of what happened in the forest of death, that he met with orochimaru. Did he tell you about the seal?"

"He did not."

"The only reason why he would hide it is if he is working with your former student."

Sandaime frowned. It was true that Naruto had kept information from him and that counted against him. He said "I will speak with him about that."

One of the elders spoke up again "We have let the boy live for far too long. It would make more sense to kill him now, before either the seal or demon take over and he betrays or destroys konoha!"

Sandaime frowned. He had to find a way to save Naruto. He said "I will have Jiraiya take a look at the seal and Hatake Kakashi to restrain the curse seal. Let us wait to see if this can be fixed."

A member stood up "He threatened the village. He will do it again! He has been a monster since the day he was born! You saw him fighting with the other one! He has no control! Would you keep jonin and anbu off missions to guard one boy when it make more sense just to kill him?"

Another elder spoke "You must put the needs of the village over an individual. The council is aware of the feelings you have for the boy, but which is most important to you? Would you spare the boy and have him destroy the village and kill the people you have sworn to protect?"

Sandaime knew that it would be almost impossible to stay the execution of the blonde. His mind raced, trying to come up with an alternative. He said "What of exile?" He hated the option, but at least the boy would live.

"And give him the option of defecting to Orochimaru without consequence? He must be killed!" Sandaime's heart sunk as he felt and heard the agreement of the council on this. He pleaded "A month. Allow Kakashi and Jiraiya to look at the seals. If he can not be stablized in that amount of time, then...I will assent to the execution."

He could see they didn't like it, but they didn't want to directly challenge him. They spoke amongst themselves. Then, the eldest spoke up "The jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto will be given a month to stablize. During this time he will be under anbu and jonin guard at all times. In addition, he will have his chakra sealed away during this time and he will not leave his cell. If he stablizes by the end of this period, he will be stripped of his rank and be given permanent charkra restriction seals and allowed to live as a civilian under supervision."

The sandaime frowned. He wasn't sure if the boy wouldn't be happier dead, but he couldn't sign his death warrant, at least he would live. Alive was better than dead, right? He sighed "I assent to this arrangement."

Naruto sat in his cell, broken. He had been interrogated by Ibiki and Kakashi and then he had been subjected to a very painful evil sealing technique and the equally painful chakra restriction seals. Finally, he had been told of his sentence by Iruka. He looked up out of the bars and saw 2 Anbu guarding the door. He suspected there were more than that. He thought 'What's the point of living. Everyone hates me, even those that I thought...' His throat grew hot and he choked out a sob 'Even those that I thought loved me and I worked so hard, so hard to get them to like me and now...everyone knows that I'm a monster. Even if all of this works, I'll never be a ninja. I'll be under guard for the rest of my life.' He hadn't failed to notice that the Anbu had left him a kunai, even though they weren't supposed to. It wouldn't do any damage to the cell, but...if he cut deep enough... He took out the kunai and looked at his reflection in the knife. His hair was a mess without his hitate, which they had taken from him. His eyes were red, but not red like Kyuubi, red from crying. He smiled a sad smile "I was stupid to think I could be something I'm not. I really am a monster." He held his kunai to his wrist and cut it deep, gritting his teeth as the pain came. He cut his other wrist and hoped that the chakra restriction seals would keep kyuubi from healing him, this once. He watched, detached, as he blood flowed down his arms and dripped into puddles on the floor. 'drip..drip..drip...' It wasn't long before he descended into nothingness.

Sandaime decided to check in on Naruto, since he hadn't done so since the boy had been confined. What he saw alarmed him. He saw a still Naruto and puddles of blood beside him. He immediately went to the cell and saw the anbu standing outside like nothing had happened and he regretted sending kakashi and iruka back to their jobs. He yelled "You're supposed to be watching him!"

Some of the anbu looked startled. Some didn't. "What is the matter, hokage-sama? We are making sure the prisoner doesn't escape. Those were our orders." Sandaime frowned. He went in to the protests of some of the guards and picked Naruto's limp form up. He was still bleeding and barely alive. He had lost a lot of blood on the floor. Sandaime's heart panged. Had the boy wanted to die that badly? He could only hope it was the effect of the seal on his mind. He ordered a Anbu to come in that had medic training and watched as she healed the cuts, but she wouldn't touch the mess on the floor. She had to be forced to heal the boy. He cleaned it away himself with a water and sand jutsu and left. 'I'm so sorry, Arashi. I couldn't keep my promise...'

Meanwhile...Kabuto had stayed in leaf as his master had ordered and he had returned to Orochimaru to report the fight.

Orochimaru took the news with a frown. He had been patient, although it had been difficult. The fight between jinchuriki might upset his plans to invade during the final stage of the chunnin exams. Then, he realized, what had happened was to his advantage. Before, the boy had been loyal to leaf. Now...he doubted the boy had any ties left, if Kabuto's telling of the story had been accurate in the slightest. He smirked. It was time to pay the boy a visit.

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I know, this chapter was a little heavy on the angst side, but this is not going to turn into an angst fic. The thoughts of the genin/jonin/villlagers will be in the next chapter, so will Orochimaru's visit. Let me know what you'd like to see. Also, let me know if you think Orochimaru's plans should change from what originally happened. 


	12. Chapter 12

Wow, over 200 reviews for this story. It was one I started on a whim, with much less planning behind it than my other story, Found in the Rain, but I'm glad you guys like it so much.

Note: I had someone comment on how Naruto over reacted. To start off, he's kind of unstable at the point because of the influence of the seal and the kyuubi in his head. Also, he's just been denied the one thing that was his dream. He focused his life around being a ninja. His life would have no purpose without that, to him. Also, he thinks that everyone he ever cared about hates him now, and love/friendship with his precious people was the thing that kept him from going nuts like Gaara did. A combination of all that would drive most people over the edge. I apologize if I did not convey this fully enough.

Anyway, onto the chapter.

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Naruto woke up and looked around. He was still in the cell and there was no sign of any blood. He looked at his wrists. There weren't even scars. He sighed. The Kyuubi had saved him. He had expected that, but...who had cleaned up the blood?" He checked himeself out. He was still in a lot of pain, but not as much as before. He didn't hear any voices in his head, he supposed he should be grateful for that. What now, though? He had no one to talk to, not that there was anyone he wanted to talk to, except maybe the Kyuubi who he couldn't contact anymore. He considered his options. If he was good, then he had the slight chance at being allowed to live. He barked a laugh "Yeah, right. The council hates my guts. They wanted me to kill myself. That's why they didn't take my kunai." He swung up into a sitting position on the bed and stood up, pacing around for a bit. He couldn't kill himself, so there were three options. The most likely would be that he would be executed, the second would be that he would be let to live under guard for the rest of his life, the third, and least likely, was escape from the cell and running away.

But where would he go? As he was thinking about this, he saw something coming in through the inch wide slits in the wall that served as windows. He frowned. It was a small snake. He took out a kunai, then reconsidered. He decided to watch to see what it was going to do. Then, all of a sudden the snake was gone in a puff of smoke and Orochimaru appeared.

Naruto growled then clutched his shoulder. A fresh wave of pain almost made him fall to his knees. He sat down on shaky legs on what served as a bed. "What do you want, you bastard? You come to finish me off?"

Orochimaru looked at the boy. He had found out from one of the guards what had happened, exactly. He said "On the contrary, Naruto-kun. I want you to join me."

Naruto said "Join you? You did this to me!" He looked up at the snake with fire in his eyes, that dimmed at another wave of pain. He whimpered.

Orochimaru said "I can get rid off the pain."

Naruto said, tiredly, "I'm not going to join you, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru said "Konoha has betrayed you. I know what that's like. Even if they let you live, you'll never be a ninja. Being a ninja is your dream. You are welcome in Oto. I, unlike the stupid councilors, appreciate a strong shinobi such as yourself in my ranks"

Naruto frowned "I am welcome nowhere and I don't like you."

Orochimaru said "Poor Naruto-kun, no one loves you..."

Naruto laughed bitterly "If you're going to say you love me, save it."

Orochimaru chuckled "No, you'd just be one of the ninjas serving in my army, however, I know one man who loved you."

Naruto looked up, curious despite himself "Who? Everyone in Konoha hates me, including the old man." His breath caught at the end. He had been closest to the Sandaime out of everyone.

Orochimaru smiled. He said "Your father."

Naruto looked at Orochimaru. "He's more responsible than you are for the trouble I'm in!"

Orochimaru said "He did it because there wasn't any other way to keep the Kyuubi from destroying Konoha. It was a pity. He was so happy when he found out he had a son."

Naruto struggled with himself, then asked "Why are you telling me this?"

Orochimaru said "I can bring him back to life."

Naruto looked at the man with widened eyes "What?"

"It's one of the reasons I got kicked out of Leaf. If you join me, I'll get rid of all those pesky dampening seals and you can be a ninja again. I'll even give you your father back."

Orochimaru saw the look on the blonde's face and decided it would be best to let it all stew in his head. He said "Consider my offer, boy." He changed back into a snake and left through the slit.

Naruto sat on the bed. His head whirling. He hated the oro-teme, but he was offering him life and...his father, but...he hated him, didn't he? Everyone seemed to love the yondaime. Was he really so great? Was Orochimaru telling the truth? Did he really love him? Could he really bring him back to life? He was so confused since his world had crashed down around his shoulders.

As he was musing, his door opened and a guard walked in. Naruto frowned, but didn't speak. He did cry out when the guard transformed into a man in a black coat with red clouds. He backed closer to the wall and said "You're not a guard, how did you get in?"

The man with long black hair and black eyes said "I used a genjutsu. Uzumaki Naruto,"

Naruto looked at this man. He reminded him a lot of Sasuke. He asked "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Itachi. We have heard of your...situation and my leader would like you to join our organization."

Naruto frowned. This guy was Sasuke's older brother, the one who killed his own clan, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious why he wanted him "What organization?"

"Akatsuki."

Naruto shook his head. He said "Jeez, I didn't know I was so popular. First Orochimaru sneaks in here, then here you come. I give you more points for your entrance, though. You walked in through the front door." He paused "What is Akatsuki, anyway?"

Itachi said "It is made up of the most powerful of missing nin."

"What do you do?"

"We are gathering the jinchuriki."

"Why?"

Itachi said "With their power, we would become unstopable."

Naruto said "Tell me why I should?"

Itachi said "I could get you out of here easily."

Naruto watched him. He didn't trust him. He said "You don't want me, you want Kyuubi."

"We want the jinchuriki of Kyuubi."

Naruto frowned. Human sacrifice. He supposed that's what he was. He said "Give me a reason why I should trust yout anymore than that snake Orochimaru."

Itachi frowned. He had been expecting the boy to jump at the chance to escape. He said "You seem rather calm for someone who's going to be executed."

Naruto said "Death doesn't bother me anymore. If it were up to me, I would be dead already."

Itachi's eyes widened slightly and he looked at the boy again. Had he attempted suicide? He saw no signs on him. Had he been that unstable?

Naruto said, noticing the older boy's expression, "I have to be calm, or I'll pass out from the pain." he said in a deadpan voice. Then he looked at Itachi "Do you have a seals master among you?"

"Yes."

"Could he take off chakra restriction seals, a curse seal and an evil suppression seal?"

Itachi thought 'He has all of that on him? With Kyuubi's chakra supressed in him, no wonder he was in pain and the curse seal...He said "Yes."

Naruto frowned. If he did get out of here, he very much wanted to get all of these seals off so he could go back to normal. If he went with Orochimaru, he was sure the man wouldn't remove the curse seal, however...if Orochimaru could do what he said he could...he frowned.

Itachi frowned "Your considering joining Orochimaru. If I'm correct, he's the reason for your current predicament. Why? What did he offer you?"

Naruto looked at the man in front of him, wondering whether he should tell him. Finally, he decided to tell him the truth. It didn't matter. He said "Orochimaru offers to remove two of the seals and to let me become a ninja of his village."

Itachi said "We offer the same and the removal of the curse seal. There is more."

Naruto said "He also offers to use a forbidden technique to resurrect my father."

Itachi frowned. He said "He speaks of the Edo tensei. Your father's soul was taken by the Shinigami. That jutsu cannot bring him back." In truth, Itachi didn't know whether it could or not.

Naruto frowned. This was just something else to leave him more unsure of what to do. He said "You don't know that." When Itachi didn't say anything, it confirmed his doubt. Naruto continued. "I don't trust the snake, but I don't trust you either. The snake offers me my father, what do you offer?" He looked at him with hard eyes.

Itachi looked at this boy. He acted more like an adult than a boy and though he seemed tough now, Itachi could tell that he was very confused underneath. It was understandable. His whole world was gone. He frowned. The leader had only asked him to extend the offer. He would go give the leader the answer. He said "Orochimaru is a backstabing snake. He betrayed Akatsuki. He will betray you. Akatsuki do not betray their own."

Naruto said "One did, missing nin are ninjas who have betrayed their land. If Akatsuki is an organization of missing nin, it is an organization of betrayers."

Itachi countered "So you're telling me that you're loyal to Konoha, after what they've done to you?"

Naruto frowned. Itachi continued "There are good reasons to become a missing nin as well as bad ones. It is not always the shinobi that betrays his land, sometimes the land betrays the shinobi. What is your answer?"

Naruto frowned again, his head still too muddled to think clearly, but he didn't want his only option to be the snake "I'll...think about it."

Itachi nodded and went back through the door "I'll be back."

Naruto sat back down on the bed, his head pounding. What should he do?

Outside of the cell...

The genin squads had gathered along with their jonin senseis into the Hokage's office.

Iruka and Kakashi were at the front. Iruka asked "What happened to him?"

Kakashi said "Hokage-sama. Why are the genin here"

Sandaime sighed "I know they have questions. I realize now that Naruto might have been better off if the secret had never been kept. It will now be told, if some of them haven't guessed already."

Sasuke asked "What secret?"

Kakashi looked at the sharingan user. He then looked at Iruka, who looked the most shaken up next to the Hokage.

Iruka asked "Hokage-sama. Naruto, he isn't himself, is he? Did it...?"

The Hokage sighed "The boy is broken, due to both influences, but more than that, the look on his face when he was in my office." The old man looked older than usual and pained. "He's kept control for so long, but he messed up, and now...I had no other choice, it was that or execution."

Sakura said "Wait, this is Naruto we're talking about? Sure he fought with that sand ninja and destroyed a couple of buildings, but that's not enough to kill someone for!"

Sarutobi sighed. "Kakashi, would you explain? The fourth was your sensei."

Kakashi sighed. He saw it hurt the old man too much to talk about it, but he didn't want to talk about it either. Thinking or talking about the fourth brought back bad memories. He asked "Can anyone tell me the story of the Kyuubi?"

The genin looked at their senseis who were keeping silent about it.

Shikamaru was the one who spoke up "The Kyuubi was defeated by the 4th Hokage."

"What happened to the Kyuubi?"

"It was killed."

Kakashi said "That is what you were told. Now you are going to be told the truth." It was clear there was unrest among the genins at the mention of this, but he was serious enough to keep them from talking amongst themselves. Kakashi paused, then said "The bijuu are too powerful to be killed. The nine tailed fox was sealed into a new born infant by the Yondaime." He paused again to let this information sink in.

The Aburame was the one to speak up first "It makes sense. My kikai bugs sensed inhuman energy coming from him."

Sakura asked "What are you talking about?"

Kakashi said "The Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto just after he was born. He is a jinchuriki."

What was left of team seven stood there in shock. So did most of the other genin.

Finally, Ino spoke up "Why...why didn't anyone tell us?"

Sarutobi said "I had hoped that if the young generation didn't know that Naruto would be treated like a normal child and make friends." He sighed. "Unfortunately, the older generation either told their children or poisioned their minds against him."

Shikamaru said "This is troublesome, but...a jinchuriki is a person that a bijuu is sealed in, not the bijuu. Naruto's never acted like that before."

Sarutobi looked pained again "I agree. Naruto is not the Kyuubi, but the council fears that his seal is weakening and that he may lose control. There is also the complication of the curse seal he bears because of Orochimaru, which is why I called you here, Anko."

Everyone stared as the woman appeared in the windowsill and came into the room. She said "Take a picture." She turned to the hokage. She said "I've met monsters. The kid's not one. He's like me."

Sarutobi said "I agree with you, Shikamaru. I do not believe that Naruto is the Kyuubi or that he has been influencing him, at least up until now. He was attacked constantly as a child and he never struck back."

Sasuke muttered "Attacked constantly?" He looked at Kakashi "What does he mean?"

Kakashi said, uncomfortably "Before Naruto became a ninja, he would get beaten up by civilians on a regular basis."

Sakura asked "Beaten up how badly? How often?"

Kakashi said "Close to the point of death, at least once a week, sometimes more often."

Sakura gasped, most of the genins showed horror. Sasuke was angry. He said "Why didn't anyone do something? If that had happened to me, I would have..." He trailed off. "I would have fought back."

Sarutobi said "If he would have fought back he would have been banished or worse."

"Can't you do something? You're Hokage!"

Sandaime shook his head "I may be Hokage, but I did all I could. I had to fight hard for Naruto's life."

Shikamaru asked "What do you mean?"

Sarutobi said "He was given a month, if the seals stay put, he gets stripped of his rank and is allowed to continue living as a civilian. If he shows signs of being unstable...he will be executed."

Sasuke frowned, but Lee beat him to the punch "I am not in Naruto's class, but even I have seen his youthful spirit. I have heard his dreams of being Hokage. I cannot imagine life not as a shinobi and I do not think he could either."

Sarutobi frowned, wondering whether he should tell them of the attempt. He decided not to, at least not with the genins around.

Shikamaru asked "Why are you telling us this, Hokage-sama? It's troublesome...there's nothing we can do." he frowned.

Sarutobi said "I need to know your opinions of Naruto, now that you know the truth."

"Why?"

The Sandaime said "I need to know if you would be willing to bring him back."

"Bring him back, where is he going?" Sakura asked.

Sandaime frowned "Nowhere, yet, but I feel something's going to happen. If he doesn't run off, there is a strong possibility that he will be kidnapped."

Kurenai looked down at her charges. She saw the tears running down Hinata's face. She said "At first, I distrusted Naruto, because he is a jinchuriki, but..." She looked down. "When I came to pick up Hinata from the academy, I saw him sometimes. He was always alone, I even saw him attacked once. He didn't fight back." She looked up "Every monster I've ever seen fought back when attacked. The Kyuubi did." She looked at her charges again.

Surprisingly Hinata spoke up. She choked on her words "Nobody e..ever did anything! I should have done s..something. I saw him alone..."

Sakura was close to tears too "So did I."

Kiba said "Naruto always smelled like fox, now I know why. I skipped class with the guy..." He paused. Akamaru barked "You're right, Akamaru."

"What did he say?"

Kiba said "Akamaru says that he had a lot of energy that scared him when he felt the fight, but that wasn't his normal energy. That he wasn't bad before. I'm with Akamaru."

Both Kiba and Hinata looked at Shino, who said "I expected something like this. My kikai bugs told me about Uzumaki's energy. However, I have not sensed killer intent from him before the fight, except on one occasion."

Kurenai was surprised "On what occasion would that be, Shino?"

Shino said "The killer intent that he displayed towards Hyuuga Neji during his match that immobilized him." They all looked at him in surprise.

Kurenai asked "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Shino raised an eyebrow and said "I assumed that at least the jonins and chunnins noticed. I see I assumed incorrectly."

Sarutobi frowned. Had he been unstable that early in?

Hinata saw the frown and cried "He did it for me!" Everyone looked at her in surprise. She said "When I was fighting with Neji...he was watching. He knew I was losing, he wanted me to win."

Kurenai said gently "That doesn't make it alright for him to do that."

Hinata turned on her sensei. "He cared about me!" She sobbed. "Did you see the look on his face? Right before they took him away? Did you see it?"

Most of the other genin were shocked to see the quiet girl express herself so loudly. She continued with tears in her eyes "He looked at me, at all of us with the most painful look of being betrayed that I've ever seen." She cried. "He..he..he" She broke down. Kurenai put her hand on the girl's shoulder, but she refused the comfort. Hinata raised her head, her eyes red a few minutes later. She cried "He was always alone, then he made friends. Now he thinks everyone hates him!

Sarutobi frowned. He had seen the look on the blonde's face, but he hadn't realized it was because of that. He listened as the girl continued.

"He thinks everyone hates him and if he makes it through this...his dream has been destroyed. How could they do this to him?!" Hinata ran out of the room.

Kurenai cried "Hinata!"

Sarutobi said "Let her go calm down. She needs to be alone." He sighed. "I didn't want to tell the genin this, but Naruto...has already made an attempt on his own life. I had him healed."

Sakura gasped. "Hokage-sama...he...will he..."

Sarutobi shook his head "I doubt he will try it again. He most likely believes that the Kyuubi healed him like it normally does."

Sakura thought 'The Kyuubi heals him? That would make sense. That's how he healed so quickly during the mission to wave...'

Sarutobi sighed again. Poor, poor Naruto. I have failed you Arashi, I'm so sorry... He looked at the genin and said "A raise of hands of those who would be willing to go after Naruto."

Team seven raised their hands first, followed by Shino and Kiba, then by Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji. Lee raised his hand too. This leaved Tenten and Neji.

Tenten said "I don't really know Naruto, but no body that was treated that bad and didn't fight back's a monster. Nobody deserves to die for something out of their control. I'll go after him."

She looked at Neji, knowing that the last part of what she had said would affect Neji, if nothing else had.

Neji thought 'I thought my cage seal was a curse. I thought no one else could know what it's like to be born inferior, to be born with something you'd have to live with the rest of your life, that could cause you to die at a whim. How wrong I've been. He's been through that and more.' He raised his hand too.

Sarutobi looked at the jonin sensei.

Asuma asked "Hokage-sama, why are you asking this of the genin? If Uzumaki is taken, surely it would take more than genin to get him back."

Sarutobi said "If he is taken, the council will not allow jonin or chunnin to be sent after him. I will be lucky if they don't send an assasination team." He looked at the genin sadly "How I wish I would have let the secret out sooner. How much it might have changed..."

With Hinata...

Hinata was using her Byakugon, trying to find Naruto. She finally found him in a cell, under guard. It would be hard to get to him, but she had to. She had to let him know that not everyone hated him. She had to find a way in.

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As always, forgive any minor errors that I make in grammar or spelling, it's hard to catch them all myself. Let me know what you think of the chapter. 


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Thanks to battousai222 and Mr X especiall for your ideas. They helped me out a lot. I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted Naruto to go until your reviews helped me decide, so thanks.

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While the discussion was going on among the other genin, Naruto was sitting in his cell, thinking hard, trying to come up with a plan. After clearing his mind as much as he was able to, and thinking for about an hour, he had come up with it. It would take some work. First, he had to find Orochimaru. He said, in a quiet voice "Orochimaru...I know you planted a clone around here somewhere. I've made my decision. I'll come with you, but you've got to get me out of Konoha."

Naruto noticed a small puff after he said this and saw that Orochimaru had indeed left a kage bushin. He smirked. His plan would soon be under way. As he predicted, Orochimaru again entered his cell via the form of a snake.

He said, with a smirk, "So you've made up your mind to join me."

Naruto said "I was also asked to join Akatsuki." He watched Orochimaru's reaction to this, then said "But I decided that I could learn more under you, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru smirked at this show of respect from the boy. He said "I have more techniques than most ninja alive."

Naruto said "I will join you, if you remove the chakra seal and the evil seal."

Orochimaru asked "You didn't ask me to remove the curse seal."

Naruto smirked "Why should I want to get rid of such a powerful gift?"

Orochimaru smiled "This is a new side to you from what I saw in the chunnin exams."

Naruto said "One changes when they stop fearing death."

Orochimaru frowned a little at that, but let it pass. The boy must have been referring to himself. He said "Alright. Let's go."

Naruto asked "How are we going to escape Konoha?"

Orochimaru said "I am the master of jutsus and I was in competition with your Yondaime for hokage." He smirked again "I picked up on a jutsu of his."

Orochimaru made an explosion and a few handsigns, then he took hold of Naruto and there was a flash.

The guards rushed in hearing the explosion. The wall was blown away, but the prisoner was no where to be seen. One stayed behind in case it was a trick and the other went to tell the council.

Closeby...

Hinata gasped. The cell where Naruto was, there had been an explosion and then a bright flash. "Byakugon!" She looked and cried "He's gone!" She ran back to the Hokage tower.

Hinata passed by the rest of her team on the outside, but she pushed past them and the other genin, to run to the Hokage. She didn't notice them turn around and follow her. She burst into the office. "Hokage-sama! Naruto's gone!"

Sandaime stood up. "What?!"

Hinata was out of breath. "He...there was an explosion." She panted "Then a bright flash and when I checked with my Byakugon...He was gone!"

"How long ago?"

Hinata said "A few minutes ago."

Sandaime asked "Why were you so close?"

Hinata said "I...I wanted to tell Naruto-kun...that...h..he had friends..."

Sandaime sighed. He didn't know what to do. He didn't even know if Naruto had broken out of his cell by himself or if he had been taken. He said "Go, Hinata, tell Kiba I need his big sister and her dogs."

The rest of the genin were outside when Hinata opened the door. They seemed to have heard the whole thing.

Kiba said "I'll go get my sis. You want to investigate the cell, right?"

"Yes, to determine whether this was a kidnapping or an escape attempt. Quickly."

Kiba nodded and ran off. Sandaime looked at the other genin and jonin. He said "I didn't think that this would happen this soon." He sighed. "Nothing can be done until we know more. You are dismissed for now. I will summon you if I need you." The genin left, ushered out by the jonin.

Soon afterward, the Inuzuka and her dogs searched the room and reported back to the hokage. She said "The cell reeked of snake, but there were other smells. He's had visitors. The snake smell was the strongest next to Uzumaki's."

Sandaime said "Thank you, Hana. Anything else?"

She said "Although it was difficult to tell because of the explosion, I do not believe there was a struggle. Also, the explosion was caused from the inside."

Sarutobi frowned. He said "Arigato, Hana. You are dismissed."

She nodded and left.

Sandaime sat at his desk, putting his head in his hands. He wasn't sure what had happened. Orochimaru had been there, maybe others? How had he gotten into the cell? Had Naruto gone with him willingly or had he been taken? Either way, the council wouldn't allow a rescue mission, if shinobi were sent after him, they would be sent to kill. He frowned. He would just have to go behind their back. He would need to think of a plan before he summoned the genin, however. He stared at the piling up work on his desk, and thought about how to go about the rescue. He refused to think that Naruto had gone with his former student willingly.

Meanwhile, Naruto was with Orochimaru, by now they had made it to Orochimaru's fortress. They had to use the jutsu more than once.

Naruto asked "What was that?"

Orochimaru said "Hiraishin."

Naruto asked "How did you do that? Will you show me?"

Orochimaru asked "Why do you want to learn it?" somewhat suspicious.

Naruto said, with a smile, "The greatest ninja is the one who knows the most techniques, right?" This was what he gathered the older shinobi thought by his short time around him and what he knew about him.

Orochimaru frowned. He said "And I am the greatest ninja."

Naruto said "Of course, Orochimaru-sama. I could never learn all of your jutsu. I just thought this jutsu would be a good one for me to learn."

"Why that jutsu?"

Naruto smirked "It would be a fitting jutsu to use when I again face the Konoha shinobi. To see their demon using their favorite hokage's techniques."

Orochimaru smirked. He liked that idea as well. He said "Very well, I will teach it to you."

Naruto asked "When will these seals come off?"

Orochimaru smirked "Kabuto."

The white haired man came around the corner. "Orochimaru-sama. Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at the traitor. He smiled "Kabuto-san."

Orochimaru smirked. He would see how strong his new pawn was. "Kabuto, remove the boy's chakra and evil supression seals."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." He turned to Naruto "Come with me." Naruto followed the white haired man. Kabuto said "I didn't figure you to be the type that deserted."

Naruto said "Neither did Konoha, or it wouldn't have been so easy to escape." He followed Kabuto into the room that looked like a lab.

Kabuto smirked. He was also interested to see how strong this boy was that his master was thinking about using for his next body.

Naruto sat still during the process, but the removing of the seals was excruciating, the chakra returning from the evil supression seal was bad enough, but when kyuubi's chakra overflowed his chakra coils, he screamed. Red chakra enveloped him a minute before he blacked out.

Meanwhile...in another secret base...

Itachi reported in to the leader.

The leader frowned at the news. He had expected the boy to take the offer. He said "Bring him, willingly or unwillingly."

Itachi looked at the leader "Leader-sama, before you said..."

The leader frowned "Itachi, I did not ask for your opinion. Bring him, go now. Take Kisame."

Itachi frowned "Hai." He went after Kisame. He wished the leader would make up his mind. Now he had to go all the way back to Konoha. He hated going back there. He found Kisame, who complained "Why do I have to go?"

Itachi said "Leader-sama said so, do you want to argue with him?"

Kisame paled a little and shook his head. Itachi said "Back to Konoha we go." They both put on their cloaks and hats.

In the leader's office...

The leader pulled a picture out of his pocket and looked at it. It was obvious that it was old because the corners were worn and it was fading, but it only had one crease. It had been taken good care of. In the picture was a man and woman and two boys. The most remarkable thing was that the four of them all had blonde hair and the same cerulean eyes. The man paid the most attention to the younger boy, that had a grin on that almost split his face. 'Arashi...'

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Hey, I know this chapter wasn't all that long, but I decided to go ahead and post it instead of making you wait longer for a longer one. As always, feel free to leave comments, complaints, concerns. Ja ne. 


	14. Chapter 14

Yep, you guessed it, Naruto's up to something, kudos to anyone who guesses what it is. Here's the next chapter.

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Naruto woke up in the same lab from before. He said "How long have I been out?"

Kabuto said "A couple of hours. How do you feel?"

Naruto tested himself, flexing his muscles and gathering chakra. "Better with those damn seals off." He got up then fell over and righted himself weakly, bracing himself on the bed. "What the hell?" He looked at Kabuto.

Kabuto said "It will probably be tomorrow before your chakra system is back to normal. For a normal person, it would be longer, but most people take longer to wake up after passing out from extreme pain." He smiled.

Naruto thought 'sadist. He liked doing that earlier.' He said "Good. I want to start training."

Kabuto asked "Why so eager to train?"

Naruto said, with a smile "Hey, everything hasn't changed. I'm still a workaholic."

Kabuto said "Hn" He went back to his experiments. "You can go." He called a sound nin to show Naruto to his room.

Naruto looked around 'This is already better than the place I had in Konoha. With snake head being over the village, I doubt I'm as likely to be called a monster here too.' He smirked. 'And it will only get better from here.'

Meanwhile...

Itachi and Kisame were on their way to Konoha...

Once they made it there, they went directly to the cell under a henge, only to find it blown. He was gone! Itachi looked at Kisame. Kisame winced. Leader wasn't going to be happy about this.

Kisame said "What do we do now?"

Itachi said "We're not going back without Uzumaki, unless you want to explain to the Leader how we missed the target?"

Kisame shivered "Lead the way."

Itachi frowned. He was most likely with the snake. He said "We're going to Sound."

As the two Akatsuki members left, the Hokage was sitting at his desk, still thinking about what to do with Naruto. The council had found out about how he wanted to rescue Naruto. They had been expressly against it. They were sending out an assasination team.

He had to do something. He called team Asuma and team Gai. Team Kakashi was short a man and was too likely to be too emotionally envolved and he didn't want Hinata or Kiba on the mission for the same reason, especially Hinata.

He sighed as the 11 genin all came into his office, followed by their instructors. He said "I only called for teams Asuma and Gai."

Sasuke said "I'm not going to just stand by and let this happen to him! He's my team mate!"

Hinata said "I'm just as capable as Neji with the byakugon and jyuuken. I have to show Naruto that somebody cares. I'm gong too!" She looked at the Hokage defiantly.

Sarutobi said "The council would never approve sending all of you out to bring Naruto back" he paused "So I'm going to have to send you on other missions, that just happen to be in close proximity to where Naruto should be." He handed each jonin a scroll. "You'll have to complete the mission too, they are real, but they won't take much time.Each mission is around a B or C rank. Team Gai and Kurenai, leave tonight. Team Asuma and Kakashi, leave tomorrow morning. Space your departures out by at least an hour. Be warned that the council plans on sending an assasination team after Naruto, so be on the lookout for them."

Neji asked "Hokage-sama, if we retrieve Naruto, what then? Will he want to come back? He can't be a ninja here." Sandaime saw that most of the rest of them were wondering the same thing.

Sasuke said "I can think of a solution to that. It involves a few council members getting lost on their way to work." His sharingan activated briefly.

Sandaime had been afraid of this. He couldn't say that he didn't agree, but he couldn't allow the bloodshed. He said "The punishment for killing a member of this village is death."

Sasuke said "That's only if they get caught and if they know who did it."

Sarutobi frowned "I will not have such talk in my office. You have your missions. Go." They left. The sandaime frowned again, the council were all former Shinobi. They could take care of themselves, besides, he didn't want any of the genin to get in trouble. He sighed again, his thoughts back on Naruto. He wished he had been watching him when it had happened. Then he would have known what had happened. 'Naruto...'

Naruto sneezed in the complex in Sound...

The next day...

Naruto was up early. "Orochimaru-sama!" He called out.

He walked around the complex and made his way into the snake's office. He was grabbed and had a kunai held to his neck "Ohayo, Kabuto-san."

Kabuto said, in a deadly voice, "You're not allowed in here, unless called by Orochimaru."

Naruto said "Gomen, I just wanted to train. I always get up early. He said he was going to show me hiraiashin."

Kabuto said "He's busy."

Naruto thought 'Probably sleeping. I want to get on with this already.' He asked "Kabuto-san...will you train me then?" He grinned at him.

Kabuto felt uneasy. What was the boy up to? He said "I don't know hiraiashin."

"What jutsu do you know?" Kabuto looked at him strangely again. Naruto revised his strategy again. "You don't look like any ninja I've seen before, with those glasses."

Kabuto frowned. "I'm a medic nin. I have glasses because I read a lot of scrolls."

Naruto asked "Medical justu scrolls? There can't be that many techniques."

Kabuto said "There are a lot of medic techniques."

"Not that many."

Kabuto stressmarked. "Not all medicical jutsu are used to heal."

Naruto got a surprised look "Really? I thought that's what medic jutsu was for."

Kabuto smirked "That's only half of it. Medic jutsu can be used like the gentle fist style of the Hyuuga to disrupt tenketsu as well, among other things."

"Really?" Naruto asked. "I don't suppose there are any techniques that could beat their Byakugon too?"

Kabuto said "There is one I've been working on."

"Cool, show it to me."

Kabuto said "Your chakra control isn't good enough to do any medic techniques. Forget about it."

Naruto said "You could still show it to me."

Orochimaru stepped out, in his kage robes "Yes, show him the former one. He's seen the Hyuuga's taijutsu style before."

Kabuto smirked. Another chance to beat up the runt who Orochimaru seemed fixed on having as his next vessel. Fun.

Naruto thought 'I'm in for it now. I saw Neji fight Hinata.' If I hadn't done what I did, he might have killed her and she had the byakugon and could used jyuuken. His only hope was to avoid the hands. This was precisely what he tried to do, except for the fact that Kabuto was faster than he was.

Naruto dodged to the side only to have Kabuto twist around and strike him anyway. He tried to sweep Kabuto then. Kabuto jumped back, then charged at him again. Naruto made a handsign and then there was a poof. In his place stood four Narutos.

Kabuto said "That's not very impressive. Only four?"

Naruto said "Ikusei!" They all ran at Kabuto.

Kabuto dispelled two with one motion, then got the last and struck the real Naruto. Naruto then grinned and made about a hundred more clones and struck at Kabuto from all sides.

Kabuto said "Didn't you learn that that won't work yet?" He dispelled clones ten at at time this time with a technique that resembled Kaiten. Then the Naruto clones jumped back and attacked one or two at a time again.

Kabuto dispelled them with seeming ease. He was down to the real Naruto and around six bushin now.

The real Naruto's head was throbbing from the bushins being reassimilated. He stumbled to the side a little. He had only just recovered and his chakra control was worse than usual. His last bushins dispelled on their own and he was immediately struck by Kabuto in the chest. He fell to his knees, coughing up blood.

Kabuto said "Pathetic. Your already limited chakra control hasn't returned yet. You're out of chakra now."

Naruto coughed, on his knees, his head spinning. He heard Kabuto berating him fuzzily, until he collapsed.

Orochimaru frowned. 'If I hadn't seen him earlier, I would think he was really this weak.' He asked "Kabuto, how long before he's back to normal?"

Kabuto said "He wasn't drawing upon the Kyuubi's chakra and his chakra control was nonexistent. It will take a little while before he is back to normal."

"How long?"

Kabuto estimated. Based on the boy's regenerative ability due to the fox...He said "Around a week, at least."

Orochimaru said "Heal him and put him back on his room. I'll start training him once he gets his control back."

Kabuto asked "What are you going to do with him until then?"

Orochimaru said "You are going to work with him to get his chakra control back quicker."

Kabuto asked "How? Chakra control excercises?"

Orochimaru waved his hand at Kabuto. "That will do. Don't damage him...too much." He left.

Kabuto sighed as he healed the boy and carried his unconscious form back to the room. When he dropped the boy on the bed, he went out and shut the door.

Naruto waited until he could no longer hear Kabuto's footsteps and opened his eyes. He started analyzing the information he had gotten from the clones. he closed his eyes, replaying the memories they had given him. He focused on the movements and handsigns Kabuto had made and on the results of his attacks. Naruto frowned. There was something he was missing. He didn't know how Kabuto had manipulated his chakra to do the attack.

'Gaki, he used a style similar to the Hyuuga. You should know how their style works.'

Naruto couldn't decide whether he was relieved or annoyed at the fox. 'You pick now to speak up.'

'I just regained the ability to talk to you again. I've been reparing the damage done by those seals to our link.'

Naruto asked 'Why should I know how the Hyuuga's taijutsu works?'

Kyuubi yelled 'Why are you working with the snake bastard?!'

Naruto winced 'Calm down before you really knock me out. I'm working on something right now.'

'And what, may I ask is that?' The Kyuubi asked, angrily.

Naruto sighed and sent him his plan.

Kyuubi chuckled darkly 'I see. I wouldn't have expected that out of you.'

Naruto thought 'I'm just full of surprises, aren't I? Now, oh enlightened one,' He said, brimming with sarcasm 'Enlighten me on how four eyes manipulated his chakra for that technique.'

Elsewhere...

Team Gai, Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai had moved out and all were working on their primary mission.

Team Gai was done first. They had an escort mission that had only taken a couple of days, but they were the farthest away. Team Kakashi was closest, with their mission just outside of Waterfall, but their mission would last at least another two days. Teams Kurenai and Asuma were on the other side of fire and would be occupied for another four or five days.

Sasuke said "We're the closest. Let's just get this over with."

Their task had been to help repair a village on the Waterfall/Fire barrier.

Kakashi said "With just the three of us and some of their shinobi helping, this will take until at least tomorrow."

Sasuke asked "What if you used that technique Naruto knows?"

"Kage bushin?" Kakashi asked, surprised. Why hadn't he thought of that. "Eh, yes, that would make it faster, but Sakura doesn't have enough chakra for the technique to be effective."

Sasuke said "The two of us then."

Kakashi said "Have you tried the technique before?"

Sasuke shook his head "But I've seen Naruto do it."

"Kage bushin no jutsu."

Sasuke looked at the two clones beside him, they both looked tired, one fell over and poofed. Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi sweatdropped.

Sasuke said "Eh..."

Sakura said "That's what it used to look like when Naruto tried to make bushins."

Kakashi said "You didn't use enough chakra, Sasuke, kage bushins take a lot more chakra than regular bushins do." He turned to Sakura. "Naruto has the reverse problem. He can't make a decent bushin, no matter how hard he tries."

Sakura asked "Why? He has a lot of chakra, right? He should be able to make tons of them."

Kakashi said "But he can't because he has too much. His chakra control would have to be as good as yours, Sakura, or better to be able to make a regular bushin, and it's not."

Sakura asked "Because of the Kyuubi?" Kakashi nodded.

Sasuke said "Okay, I've got it this time." He made five kage bushin and Kakashi made ten and they all got to work.

While the Konoha teams were on their missions...

Two members of Akatsuki were on a mission of their own.

Kisame complained "Are we there yet?"

Itachi's eye twitched "If you ask that one more time, Kisame, I'm having sushi for dinner tonight!" Kisame paled. Itachi said "We're in Sound. We just have to find the base. It should be around here somewhere..."

Just then, two nin walked out of thin air. Itachi smirked and took them out. Then two nin walked into thin air. They had found the hidden village of Sound. The two walked around, before finding the complex then dissapeared.

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Well, that's chapter 14, let me know what you think of it. Ja ne. 


	15. Chapter 15

Hey readers, sorry it's been a while since the last update. I've had something of a writer's block lately. But here's the chapter...

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Naruto had been left to work on regaining his chakra control. Kabuto had shown him the water walking excercise and told him to do it until he could stay on top for an hour. Naruto sighed. This was a setback in his plans. Kabuto had made sure that he wouldn't so much as get to see another jutsu until he could do it. He reasoned that he did need good chakra control to do what he was planning on doing, but getting it was going to take a while. He fell through the water again. It didn't help his concentration that he had a giant chakra fox laughing in his head.

He was so preoccupied with his training that he didn't notice them until they were practically on top of him. He dodged half a dozen shuriken and spun around, falling through the water again "Damn it!" He looked for his attackers. There were two shinobi in straw hats with strips hanging from them and black coats with red clouds. Naruto recognized one when they looked up.

"Itachi, why are you here?"

Itachi said "You're coming with us."

Naruto said "No, I'm not." He glanced around. He was sure Kabuto, Orochimaru, or someone reporting to them was watching him.

Itachi frowned "I'm not going to take no as an answer. If you will not come willingly, you will come unconscious."

Naruto was frustrated. Orochimaru had spies all around. He couldn't talk to Itachi, not if he was going to gain the trust of the snake. He said "I've decided to join the sound village. I chose not to join Akatsuki."

Itachi looked the boy in the eye. There was something going on underneath the surface. Who looked around, taking his eyes off the enemy when it could get him killed? His sharingan spun.

Naruto found himself tied to a crucifix with Itachi in front of him. He said "Where am I? Is this a genjutsu?" He thought that it was, but it wouldn't dispell.

Itachi said "This is tsukiyomi. We will be here for the next 72 hours and you will tell me what you're up to."

Naruto said "It's not going to take that long, but how long will it be out there?"

"Less than a minute."

"Impressive technique."

Itachi said "It's an ability of the sharingan."

"Oh."

"Talk."

Naruto said "Right."

Around a minute later, outside, Naruto staggered backwards. Itachi struck out at him. He cried "I'm not going with you!"

Itachi scowled. "Then I'll take you by force." He ran at him, performing handsigns, hitting him with a fireball and sending Kisame behind him with his sword. Naruto just managed to dodge them both. He said "You won't take me alive!" and activated the seal. Naruto swung out fast and caught Itachi on the shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him into a boulder. Then Kisame attacked. Naruto mostly dodged, wary of the sword. Then Kisame had him trapped and swung his sword...

Itachi said "Stop, Kisame." Kisame stopped. Itachi said "I used up too much energy on the tsukiyomi."

Kisame looked at the kid "He doesn't look like somebody whose just been tortured."

Itachi said " The curse seal restored him, for now. We'll be back, later." He turned and left. Kisame followed.

When they had gotten a ways away, Kisame said "You were the one who said the leader would kill us if we came back without the kid..."

Itachi said "I'll talk to the leader."

Kisame looked at his partner and shook his head "I'm holdin' ya to that." They shushined.

Naruto made the curse seal recede and panted. For good effect, he fell over like he had passed out. He was tired anyway. It drained him using the curse seal, but keeping control over it at the same time.

Kabuto and Orochimaru had seen the whole thing through the vision of a henge'd bushin of Kabuto's. "Ku ku ku ku look at that."

"It seems he has passed out."

"He was tortured by the Uchiha."

"Why did he leave? It seemed he was intent on taking the jinchuriki."

Orochimaru said "He used the tsukiyomi. It takes a lot of energy."

Kabuto frowned. He still didn't like this.

Orochimaru said "And you said he wouldn't be loyal."

Kabuto frowned again. 'I still don't think he is, but it is true that he did not leave when given a chance.' "Perhaps you are right, Orochimaru-sama."

"Go get him and put him in his room."

"Hai." Kabuto left and picked up the boy, dropping him in the room and leaving.

Naruto thought 'I wonder if he's realized that I've faked being unconscious yet.' He waited to open his eyes until he could no longer hear the footsteps. 'I hope that satisfied them of my loyalty. I don't want to have to go through all those excercises and then have to spend all that time getting him to trust me.' He decided to be still and think for now, in case he was being watched. He was up the next morning, back on the water, training to get back his control. He spent the next week on it.

Meanwhile...

Itachi and Kisame made it back to the Akatsuki hideout.

Kisame said "Ok, you go tell him."

Itachi said "Fine." He went off to see the leader. Kisame went to his room, nervous, expecting to be summoned by the leader any second.

"Come in, Itachi."

Itachi went in.

The man turned around in his chair "I do not see him, Itachi. You have one minute to explain yourself."

Itachi said "He will come, leader-sama."

"I wanted him here now, Uchiha. Where is he?"

Itachi restrained himself from flinching at the growing anger in the leader's voice. He was dangerous to piss off. "He is with Orochimaru right now."

"What?!"

"Let me explain..."

The leader listened to the plan Itachi told him. His anger became replaced by growing interest and satisfaction. 'An interesting plan you have there, nephew. You seem to have taken more after me than your father.' He said "That is fine. When his plan comes to fruition, I want you to make sure he gets here without any trouble, understand?"

Itachi nodded "How will I know when..."

The leader interrupted "I will take care of that. Go." Itachi left the office. He wondered why he was so intent on bringing back the jinchuriki. Yes, they were capturing the vessels, but it seemed almost...personal. He went back to his room. Kisame stopped him on the way.

"So..."

Itachi said "I took care of it. You can relax."

Kisame said "But..." Itachi turned to glare at him. "Okay, I believe you. It's just weird."

Itachi said "Don't mention it anymore. Understand?" Kisame nodded. Itachi went into his room.

In sound...

Kabuto watched Naruto. He was sitting down on top of the water and he had been there for quite a while. That he was sitting impressed him. Sitting down was so much harder than standing. Not only did you have to release chakra from you feet in as steady stream, but from your legs as well. He looked at the timer he had set. An hour and ten minutes. He went out.

Naruto kept his eyes closed, though he heard Kabuto approach. "Has it been an hour already?" He opened his eyes when Kabuto was standing in front of him and stood up. "Can I do something else now? I could do this in my sleep."

Kabuto thought 'arrogant brat.' He said "What do you have in mind?"

Naruto thought 'I'll have to start off small.' "How about some medic techniques, Kabuto-san?"

Kabuto looked at the boy. What was he up to? Medical techniques weren't his style. "Why? You don't need help healing, the kyuubi does that."

Naruto said "I meant the other ones."

Kabuto smirked "I see. Well, shall I demonstrate then? How about shosen jutsu?"

Naruto said "Mystical Palm technique. That's used for healing, isn't it?"

Kabuto said "It can be used to cut as well, transforming the user's hands into weapons. Shall I demonstrate?"

Orochimaru walked out "Demonstrate on a dummy. I don't want you damaging him internally. It will take too long to heal."

Kabuto said "How about a bushin?"

"Fine."

Kabuto turned to Naruto. "Make a kage bushin." Naruto did. Kabuto looked at the bushin and motioned it in front of him. "Shosen jutsu." He hit the bushin about six times. Naruto just got to see the dozens of cuts develop and the blood starting to come out of the mouth when the clone dissipated. Naruto flinched despite himself when he recieved the memory. It was a brutal technique. He asked "But you'd have to know exactly where and what you were hitting to do fatal damage."

Kabuto said "I do."

"How?" Naruto asked, though he suspected he knew.

"My medical books."

"Can I see?"

"Why?" Kabuto looked at him suspiciously.

Naruto said "I won't be able to do the technique right if I don't know where to hit."

Kabuto said "When are you planning on using this technique?"

Naruto said "When sound invades leaf again."

Kabuto looked at Orochimaru, who frowned. "Where did you hear that?"

Naruto said "Nowhere. I had some time to think while I've been training my chakra control and you were testing Leaf's strength before, right?" He looked for a reaction from Orochimaru, who showed none. He went on "And my fight with Gaara messed things up and you decided to recruit me. I'm assuming you're still going to invade."

Orochimaru smiled "Astute child. I wouldn't have expected that amount of reasoning from you. Yes, I am. Does that bother you?"

Naruto said "Everyone from Leaf hates my guts. Why would it bother me?"

Orochimaru laughed. Naruto asked "Orochimaru-sama...when are you going to resurrect my father?"

Orochimaru said "After the invasion."

Naruto thought 'Crap. That'll be too late.' He said "Wouldn't it be better to do it before? Can you imagine the looks on their faces when they see that one of their greatest heroes is under the control of one of their greatest enemies?"

Orochimaru laughed again "I like the way you think."

Kabuto looked at him. Why was he trying to convince Orochimaru to do it beforehand? If it was for that simple a reason, he could show off to them later. He kept his mouth shut, though. Orochimaru seemed to be satisfied with the loyalty of the jinchuriki, even if he was not.

Orochimaru said "Right before the invasion then."

"When is that going to be?"

Orochimaru smirked "Don't worry. I'll let you know. Kabuto, let him see your medical books, but make sure he stays out of my library."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama. C'mon, gaki."

Naruto followed Orochimaru. He wasn't happy with his answer, but he could still make it work.

With the 11 nin from Konoha...

All had finished with their missions days ago and met up near Sound, but they couldn't find even Orochimaru, much less Naruto. Neji and Hinata had been working on it since they met up yesterday. There was some kind of shielding up around the buildings that kept them from seeing anything farther than the walls.

Hinata said "He's got to be in there somewhere."

Asuma said "We can't just rush in. There could be an army in there. We have to come up with a plan."

Shikamaru said "We need a way to infiltrate the buildings without getting caught. The walls wouldn't be shielded unless there was something behind them, though, so we need to be careful." He thought and turned to Shino. "Shino, could you send a few of your bugs into each building to conduct a search?"

Shino nodded. "I can do about six buildings at a time that way."

Shikamaru nodded. "Do that."

Sakura asked "What then?"

Shikamaru said "We can't do anything until we know where they're keeping him."

Ino asked "What if they find our camp before then?"

Kurenai said "They won't. This cave is well dug into the side of the cliff and I put up a genjutsu too."

Shikamaru said "But not on the surrounding area. The rest of us, excluding Shino, should stay in the cave."

Kiba said "Easy for you to say, ya lazy bum."

Shikamaru sighed "Believe me, I'd rather be outside looking at the clouds than in that stuffy cave, but it's not safe. Sound is rumored to have a good surveillance system and if we get caught, this mission being terminated is the least of our worries." Kiba paled and so did some of the others as they realized the meaning of his warning. The others followed him back inside the cave. Shino stayed outside, controlling his bugs. 'Uzumaki Naruto...we will find you.'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, what do you think? RnR and let me know. Ja ne. 


	16. Chapter 16

Wow, I've been meaning to update this fic and Found in the Rain for a while and I've started writing this chapter about three times, but I hit a writer's blockade all three times. Plus, I've been so busy since school started back that I haven't had the time, so gomen. I hope everyone can understand that I have an extremely busy schedule this semester between school and work and that it will be difficult for me to update because fanfiction takes backseat to schoolwork. Thanks to everyone for being so patient. Here's the next chapter.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Naruto lay in his room, studying the medical book that Kabuto had given him and thinking. Learning all the tenketsu would be a an important part of his plan to show up the idiot elders and clan leaders of Konoha. He would have to learn fast, though, there were so many parts to his plan, but it would be so satisfying in the end, to see the looks on their faces, when they see that they one they treated as trash could best their elders in battle. Then he'd go join Akatsuki, after he rescued his father. He had heard of the edo tensei and knew that the user could control the revived. There had to be a way to break that control, and if it was anywhere, it would be in Orochimaru's library. He just had to find a way to sneak in without getting caught. Kyuubi was helping hold back the curse seal, but it, combined with the amount of information he was trying to take in to his underused brain was giving him a giant headache. He paused, holding his head before Kyuubi started dealing with that too, then went back to the book.

His head snapped up and he tensed, spinning around on the bed with a kunai in hand. Something had just flown in the window. A bug? It didn't seem to be attacking. He quickly went and shut the window. His door was already shut. He wanted to study it, find out why it was here, if someone could have sent it.

It hit against the window, trying to get back outside. He studied it when it rested for a moment. It was one of the kikaichu bugs used by the Aburame clan. Why would it be here? He scowled as he came to a conclusion. Konoha must have sent an assassination team after him and sent an Aburame to scout his location. He considered his options. If he killed it, that would only help them find it, the same if he let it go. Still, he was curious who they sent after him. He made a quick kage bushin and henge and opened the window to let two bugs escape.

At the cave the Konoha nins camped out at...

Kakashi asked "Any luck, Shino?"

Shino said "Almost all of my bugs have returned with negative reports. Only a couple sent to the far ends of the complex have yet to return."

Kakashi asked "Are those two them?"

Shino watched and his bugs surged up. He stopped them from attacking the second one and said "Reveal yourself." The bug flew farther into the dark part of the cave and they all heard a poof as a henge was dropped. They all tensed, but were shocked to see who walked into the area where the shadows and light met. Naruto.

Hinata cried "Naruto!"

Naruto stayed in a tense position, scowling "Why are you here? There's too many of you for an assassination squad." He wondered at the looks they had on their faces after that. What was that? Regret, sadness? That didn't make any sense. He frowned "I'd think that they'd at least send a group of jonin or ANBU to kill me, but then again, they are idiots. You should leave, I'd rather not kill all of you, it would be too much work and I've got a lot of work to do."

Sasuke cried, looking like he was in pain, "You dobe! We're not here to kill you!"

Naruto was surprised, but hid it. He said "I don't know why you're here then. No other reason makes sense. You can't be here to bring me back, well, I suppose you could, but the only reason then would be so that I could be executed there. Why not just kill me here? Unless you're lying."

Shikamaru said "We're here under the authority of the sandaime. We were assigned different missions. This mission is unofficial."

Naruto scowled "So hokage-sama went against the council for once. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way if he had done it when I was little and getting beat up daily in the streets. I have no reason to return to Konoha. Everyone there hates me and I'm tired of it. I don't need anyone, Konoha can go to hell, and I might just help bring it there."

The Konoha nin were horrified. This Naruto was so different from the one they all knew. He was darker. There seemed to be no trace of the happy go lucky boy that they had all known.

Neji said "What happened to you? What happened to the guy who said he could change his own fate, that would take everything with a smile and just fight harder to prove himself right, to follow his dream."

Naruto said "That guy died."

Hinata cried "I don't believe you! I don't!" Naruto was shocked when he saw she was crying. It confused him greatly. He asked "Why would any of you care, anyway? It was just the mission hokage-sama gave you, although I still don't understand why."

Sakura cried "We weren't even assigned to the mission and all of us volunteered. We want to help you Naruto."

"Why should I believe you?"

Sasuke growled "Because we care about you!"

Naruto snarled "You had a fine way of showing it all those years when I was the butt of everyone's jokes and alone. When no one lifted a finger to help me or befriend me." Naruto groaned as a sharp pain ran across his neck. His legs felt weak and he folded a little. Crap, another one like that and he'd dispell. He was letting his emotions get the better of him. He saw they had nothing to say now. He said "Leave."

Lee said "We are not leaving without you!"

Naruto chuckled tiredly, "That would be kind of hard, considering that I'm not really here."

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

Naruto suddenly took out a kunai and stabbed his leg, shocking everyone, then dissapeared "Kage bushin?!"

Back in the complex...

Naruto's eyes shut at the rush of memories from the clone. His headache was back, fullforce and throbbing. He was exhaused after the interchange with the other genin and much more confused than he had been when he had started planning all of this out. It didn't make any sense. Why were all of them here? Why? Could they be telling the truth? No...it wasn' possible, but...if it was...did it change anything? If he believed them, would he have to alter his plans? Did he care what they thought? He struggled with this question. No, he didn't care, not anymore. He didn't need recognition, he didn't need precious people to be strong...he didn't, not anymore. His thoughts as he fell back into an exhausted sleep were how much people could change.

At the cave...

The shinobi from Konoha had a lot to talk about after that meaning. Kakashi sighed. "He's gone over the edge, he's finally snapped."

Hinata cried "No! He hasn't! He's still there. Didn't you see it? The way he was confused for a minute? He's still there! We can still save him."

Shikamaru sighed "He's right though. Even if we could get him to come back to Konoha, what then?"

Sasuke said "I can think of a solution."

Asuma said "You can't kill the council."

Sasuke asked "Why not? I don't see what they're good for."

Kakashi said "You would be sentenced to death for killing a Konoha citizen. Do you want to die?"

Sasuke said "If it came to that, I could become a missing-nin."

Kurenai said "There has to be a better solution."

Shikamaru said "We need more information."

Sakura said "We didn't have enough time to talk to him."

Shikamaru asked "Shino, could you send your bugs after him again?"

Shino said "Hai, but I don't think it would be wise to do it again soon. It may be seen as suspicious."

Kurenai said "Send them again tomorrow night."

They sat there, thinking to themselves after that. Ino asked "When do we have to report back?"

Asuma said "Soon."

"How will we send a message out while behind enemy lines?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi said "I can send pakkun."

Shino said "No, a dog would be too noticeable. I'll send one of my bugs."

Kurenai asked "Can it last the whole journey?"

Shino said "Yes, if fed a large amount of chakra beforehand."

Ino asked "How is a bug going to communicate to anyone? It's not like we can tie a message to its leg like we could a bird."

Shikamaru said "No, but a letter could be written and a small seal attached to the bug with the letter sealed inside it."

Sakura said "I've got paper and a pen."

Shikamaru said "Now all we need is someone good with seals." They all looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed. He said "Fine, let's get started on the report. It's going to take a while."

Sakura took out her paper and pen.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I apologize that this chapter isn't very long. I know you've been waiting for it for a long time, but considering the problem with writer's block that I've had with this story I thought it would be better to send it out as quickly as possible, now rather than making you wait even longer for me to add to it. 


	17. Chapter 17

Hehe...well...here I am with an update, sorry you guys have been waiting so long. I got inspiration for my other fic, Found in the Rain and I kinda let this one go while I was writing that, but, here you go, a new chapter. Thanks to all you guys who were patient, not pestering me for an update. It really is hard to find the time to update while I'm at school. Oh, and as always, forgive my small grammar/spelling mistakes, please. I don't have a beta, and if I took the time to comb the chapter thouroughly beforehand, it would take a lot longer to get out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO "Come in." Sarutobi sighed. There was still no word from the teams he had sent out after Naruto. To his surprise, the Aburame clan head stepped into his office. "Hokage-sama."

"Aburame-san, what is the matter? You look distressed."

It was true. Aburames rarely showed any emotion and Shibi was sweating. "Hokage-sama, one of my son's kikaichu came back to the compound alone. I noticed a seal on it and a letter was attached, adressed to you." He handed a piece of paper to the hokage. "I have kept the bug in case it is needed again as a messenger."

"Thank you, Shibi." Sandaime read the letter, recognizing Kakashi's handwriting.

'Hokage-sama, we found Naruto.' Sarutobi gave a sigh of relief, then read on 'He is in otogakure in Orochimaru's compound, seemingly willingly, although I believe there is more to it. He believed us to be an assassination squad. He seems to have changed into a completely different person, darker. I had begun to think maybe Orochimaru did have control over him, but at the end, when Hinata and the others spoke to him, his eyes changed for a second, back to the eyes he used to have. Unsure how to proceed. Respond.'

Sandaime sighed "Poor Naruto."

Shibi asked "What is it, Hokage-sama?"

Sandaime said, in a low tone, "Shibi, I know your position on Uzumaki Naruto, so I will tell you this." He searched the room, feeling no other chakra signatures, except the anbu he trusted, he said "This is not to leave this room, but your son's team and a few other genin teams have been sent on a secret mission after Uzumaki Naruto."

Shibi frowned slightly "Do you believe that to be wise, Hokage-sama. Before, the Uzumaki boy seemed quite stable, but now..."

Sarutobi sighed "I suppose I will have to explain what happed in detail. I should have known an Aburame would need all the details. This might take a while." Shibi inclined his head and Sarutobi started the account of what had happened since the chunnin exams.  
In Oto...

Naruto frowned. He hadn't slept at all for the past three nights. The visit from the genin had greatly disturbed him. A bug had been sent for the last two nights, but he didn't let it in. 'What are they up to? What do they want? Why do they stay here? They're going to end up getting caught and blowing my cover!' He growled. On top of that, he had been practically beaten to a pulp by Kabuto, who seemed to thouroughly enjoy it, each day. If he hadn't had Kyuubi, he'd long ago have needed hospitalization.

The only good thing was the he had picked up chakra scalpels from observing Kabuto and was pretty sure he had the tenketsu memorized. He was still no closer to getting into Orochimaru's library though. He scowled again. Kabuto was much more of an annoyance than Orochimaru was at this point. The arrogant bastard didn't seem to think him much of a threat. Either that, or he had too much confidence in four eyes. He sighed and wolfed down some food he had stolen from the makeshift cafeteria. He really couldn't eat there, because Orochimaru's other minions liked to beat up on him too, if he stuck around.

He dressed and headed down to the training grounds, pushing his turbulent thoughts to the back of his mind, and trying to concentrate on his plan.  
At the cave...

The Konoha shinobi were starting to get edgy, especially the jonin. Kurenai said "How can we not have been discovered yet? I mean, how bad can a secret village's gate security be?"

Kakashi said "You should be glad we haven't been discovered."

Kurenai said "I am, but...I'm getting nervous."

Asuma said "We all are, well, except for maybe Gai, I don't really think anything effects him, or Lee, they've been taking the time to train."

Sasuke said "We need to do something! I'm sick of waiting around and doing nothing!"

Shino said "He has not opened the window the past two nights I have tried to send my bugs to communicate with him. Also, the kikaichu I sent to my father has not returned yet."

Shikamaru said "This is so troublesome, but we need to analyze our last conversation with him."

Tenten said "We did that."

Shikamaru shook his head. "All we determined was that he seemed to want to stay here and that he's no longer loyal to Konoha. We need to find out more. There was something underneath that. I think looking underneath the underneath's your thing, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi sighed "More Obito's than mine, though I've tried to adopt it. I sure did a good job doing it, didn't I?"

Kurenai said "Now's no time for regret, Kakashi, now is time for action."

Sakura cried "What action? We can't do anything?!"

Just then a buzzing was heard and they all tensed. Shino stretched out his arm and a bug landed on it. He released a seal on the bug and a piece of paper poofed into exsistence. He read it and said "It is from Hokage-sama." He held it out and Sasuke snatched it. He read

'Kakashi, I have brought Shibi, Shikaku and Chouza in on the secret mission details because they are the only clan heads the believe Naruto is not the demon Kyuubi. We have discussed the mission. First, I must tell you that if this mission is discoverd, you will be ordered to return by the council. If you refuse to return, it will be considered treason and you will be labelled missing-nins. I do not anticipate...' The writing trailed off then and looked hurried with a final note 'discovered'

Sasuke scowled. "What the hell?" Just then a bird swooped down to them. They all tensed, but it was just a carrier bird. Kurenai took the note out of the case and the bird waited patiently. It must be one of those trained to wait for a return message.

She read quietly "Teams Kakasi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai, it has come to our attention that you have been sent on a side mission to retrieve the demon brat, Uzumaki Naruto. You are to return to Konoha immediately and receive punishment for assissting the dangerous missing nin Uzumaki Naruto. There will be no further consequences if you rply with your agreement to this message and return immediately. If you refuse, more than your rank will be taken away." She paused. "What do they mean by that?"

Shino cried "They've taken our dads as prisoners!" There were several gasps.

Ino asked "Who's dads?"

Shino, more under control now, said "Mine, Shikamaru's and Chouji's."

Gai said, serious now, "The only three that supported the mission." Kakashi turned to talk to the group, but Neji spoke up first.

He said "The only three? So Hiashi-sama thinks that Naruto is the kyuubi?" He scowled "It figures. The main house have always been a bunch of idiots." He looked at Hinata "Present company excluded."

Hinata frowned "Arigato, Neji-niisan, I just can't believe that toussan...thinks that way of Naruto-kun still..."

Ino cried "What about my dad? I know him. There has to be some mistake? He couldn't think like that!"

The bug buzzed some more. Shino said "He helped arrest Chouza and Shikaku."

"No..." Ino fell to her knees, disillusioned.

Sakura sighed "My mother too, but...I used to be like that too..."

Kiba looked at Akamaru with sad eyes "Nee-chan and kaasan, they both...think that? I can't believe it." His head hung.

Sasuke scowled. He said "Like I said before. Now is not the time to sit around useless. We all know the consequences now." He paused and then said "It's different for a lot of you, who have families, Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, your families aren't being threatened now, but they coud be if you continue. Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, your families are being threatened. By doing this we don't just risk our title as ninja, we also risk our lives and some of us, the lives of others. We need to decide now, who goes and who stays. As for myself..." He smirked "I've never had much holding me to Konoha anyway." He sat.

There was a lot of thinking and discussing after that. Shikamaru listened for a while, then whistled to get everyone's attention. He said "Okay, listen up." They all looked at him. He continued and said "I agree with Shino, in that it is very unlikely that the other families are attacked, since it is known they don't support Naruto. There are several options, all of them dangerous. The first two are if all of us stay, the next two are if some of us leave and the last is if all of us return."

Sasuke scowled "I'm not going anywhere."

Shikamaru said "Can you just listen for a second?" Sasuke scowled, but he shut his mouth. Shikamaru continued. "The last option, is of course, if we surrender and return, all of us. Everyone will get reprimanded and we all go home, safe, but we never see Naruto again." This option caused an outroar. He held up his hands "Geez, okay, okay. I'm not done, you know?" He glared at them all a little. He said "The best option that I have seen is if myself, Shino, and Chouji return."

Asuma asked "Why?"

Shikamaru said "Someone needs to help free our fathers. It would help a lot if Hinata or Neji could come too, because of their byakugan."

Kakashi asked "What do you plan on doing, exactly?"

Ino said "If only the five of you returned, the rest of us would be labelled missing nins immediately. What if ANBU were sent out?"

Kiba said "There's no way they'd find this place. Even the sound ninja haven't found us yet. I'm coming too."

Shikamaru said "We already have the optimal people, four is enough for this mission, too many really, but it cannot be helped."

Kiba said "I'm going. You need my nose."

Shino said "No."

Kiba growled. Kurenai sighed "Boys, boys..." She held Kiba back and said "What are the other options, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru said "The next best option is if Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Neji, and Kiba return to Konoha, pretending that they have come to their senses and agree with the council. If they can be trusted, they can sneak in to rescue our fathers."

Asuma said "That sounds better, to me, than the last plan, Shikamaru. Are you sure your desire to save your father isn't affecting your judgement?"

Shikamaru frowned. He said "The groups needs a tactition and someone with stealth abilities."

Neji said "Sakura's had the best grades in the academy. She's got the brains for it." Everyone turned to look at her, she blushed, but nodded. Neji continued "So far as stealth abilities, what are you looking for?"

Shikamaru said "A way to sneak in and communicate inside the prison. Dogs are too big, kiba."

Tenten said "Wait, I remember reading a justu scroll once that I thought would be about weapons...what was the name of that justu...meise..meisai..."

Gai said "Meisaigakure no jutsu? That might work. I'm not sure if it would hold up against a Hyuuga or an Inuzuka, but it should work against other ninjas. It's a difficult jutsu though, and it would take someone with a fast memory and high chakra capacity." Everyone turned to look at Sasuke.

Sasuke said "That would be me. I'm in, I can get it automatically, with the sharingan, but someone has to show it to me."

Kakashi said "Sorry, Sasuke, that's one I don't know."

Asuma said "Sorry."

Kurenai shook her head "Me neither, kid." Everyone was starting to look down at this point.

Gai grinned "I can show you this technique."

Kakashi looked at Gai shocked "How do you know it? I didn't think you did anything but Taijutsu anymore."

Gai said "It's one I learned before that."

Shikamaru said "Wait! We need to go over the plan first."

Sasuke said "I'm to return to Konoha, along with Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, and Neji. We're to pretend that we're glad to return, that we've decided Naruto's a demon and that we were forced to go on the mission."

Shikamaru frowned "I didn't say the last part, but fine." He sighed "That, and you're to stay for a couple of days without action, to earn the trust of the council, that nothing is anything but what you've shown them. You'll have to be very good actors. You need to mimic the hate the others feel for Naruto." He made a face and continued "Also, you are to wait until an opportune moment to affect the rescue of the prisoners and ask them if they wish to join us. If they do, you are to wait until the right moment and flee Konoha with them. You are not to try to convince your families about Naruto before the rescue is complete as that will blow your cover."

Chouji said "But what if our dads don't want to leave Konoha, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru frowned "That is the most troublesome question. All of us have to ask ourselves. If our families do not want to leave, are we willing to become missing nins, never seeing them or Konoha again?" There was silence for a long while.

Sasuke said "You know my answer. I'm in, 100. Screw the council." He went off to sit in a tree.

Kakashi said "I'm going to have to agree with Sasuke, I don't really have anything tying me to Konoha anymore either, the only thing I had left was my team. I'm not going back to Konoha, but I'll become a missing nin to protect my team." He went and sat down under that tree.

Sakura looked down, then back up, she had tears in her eyes "Since my dad died, my mom's been the only one I had, but Naruto's my team mate. It's a hard decision, but I will go back to Konoha to save the others. Maybe I can convince her..." She frowned and walked slowly to the tree.

Ino said "I can't let anything happen to chouji and shikamaru's dads. Those guys are not just my team mates, but like my brothers. I couldn't live with myself if they got hurt. I just can't believe that my dad went against them, I hope...I can get him to listen to reason. I'm going." She sat down.

Chouji said "I won't be going on this mission. I do believe that my dad and mom will join us. If they don't..."

Shikamaru put his hand on his friend's shoulder "I think they will too, and my dad too, don't worry. I'm not leaving either. We'll be here together."

Asuma sighed "I will also remain. What kind of a sensei would I be if I left my team to the wolves, besides," He sighed again "Konoha needs to be shaken up a little."

Kurenai was surprised at this. "What about your nephew? And Hokage-sama? What do you think will happen to them?"

Asuma said "They wouldn't dare touch Hokage-sama. Konohamaru is his grandson. They wouldn't dare touch him either. He may be getting on in years, but Hokage-sama's no pushover." He turned to Sasuke "He needs to know of the plan too." Sasuke nodded.

Gai said "If the council represents what the rest of Konoha thinks, then they have lost their flames of youth, and for that, they have lost my alleigance. I side with my rival."

Lee said "I agree with Gai-sensei!"

Tenten sighed and thought 'Of course you do.' She said "I don't have anything in Konoha but my team, being an orphan, so stick with them."

Neji said "I'm going."

Shikamaru said "You have to understand, you've got to be careful, if Hiashi discovers the plan, he could use the cage bird seal."

Hinata spoke up quietly "There is a book about the seal in father's office. I have only seen it once, but if I could get it out of the office, I believe it has a way to remove the seal."

Neji's eyes widened "Hinata-sama."

Hinata smiled slightly. Neji said "Anyway, I'm going."

Hinata said "And I'm going too." She smiled slightly "I only wish I helped him sooner..." She paused. "I have never defied my father before, however often I have felt like it, but...things need to change. If father needs a heir, he can use Hanabi."

Neji said "Are you really willing to have the whole clan turn against you, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata smiled sadly "Father has never truly treated me as a daughter and neither has my sister, being so like him. I know I won't be able to change how he thinks. I will have to make my own family." Neji smiled at her.

Shino said "I will not be going, but I believe that my father and mother would be willing to leave Konoha. They have been unhappy with several things over the years."

Kiba said "I'm going. I know I can concince my mom and my sister that they're wrong." He paused. "But guys...no one mentioned where we're going to go? We can't go back to Konoha. Where are we going to all live at?"

There were massive sweatdrops all around as everyone turned to Shikamaru and he said "I hadn't got that far yet."

Just then they heard buzzing. Two bugs! They all got up from where they were in a circle, excited. As expected, a clone of Naruto appeared again.

"Why haven't you come until now?"

Naruto said "Had to wait until dark." Everyone noticed that it was indeed twillight. Where had all the time gone? They noticed his expression too and decided not to further question him on that.

Naruto frowned at them "Why are you still here anyway? You don't still plan on bringing me back, do you?"

Sasuke said "Things have changed since the last time we talked, d...Naruto. Just take a look at this." Naruto took the piece of paper and read it.

'What the hell?' He said "So you'll be leaving now?"

Sakura cried "You baka! We're all going to be risking our lives for you and that's all you can say?!"

"Risk your lives?" Naruto was truly confused. What were they talking about? "What do you mean? I don't get it. You're not going back?"

Shikamaru said "Only half of us are, but we'll all be back. We're leaving Konoha."

Naruto said "So you can all become missing nins?" He looked at them sharply "That's idiotic, for all of you to risk your lives so for one person."

Sakura slapped him "How dare you!"

Naruto held his cheek. She just hit him. He frowned "Why did you do that?"

Kakashi said "You matter a lot more than you think you do, Naruto. Your part of my team, I won't leave you behind."

Sasuke said "You were my first and only friend." He looked away.

Sakura said "You're my team mate." She looked at him hurt.

Naruto frowned. What has this...feeling? This had to be an act. It had to be, they couldn't really feel like this, he would have seen it before, they would have shown it before. It felt...it hurt...' He groaned, squeezing his shoulder.

Kakashi said "I can seal that."

Naruto hissed "No, Orochimaru will know. I can't blow my cover." He looked at them "I don't understand."

Hinata said "None of us want to see you go down the dark path, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke said "The council needs to pay."

Neji added "The bastards have gotten too used to everybody doing what they want."

Naruto frowned, confused again, "What the hell are you planning? What's the purpose? I don't understand...why...do this for me? I don't matter."

Hinata cried "You're wrong! You do matter!"

Naruto frowned "What will you do after defying the council hmm? What do you expect from me? For me to leave and come join you and we can all be a happy family?" His curse mark twinged again and he hissed. "I have plans of my own."

Sasuke said "And they would be?"

Naruto said "Like I would tell you."

Sasuke said "I'm risking my life for you!"

"Don't!"

Sasuke yelled "I will! Stupid dobe! You saved me! Don't you realize that?! I'll do what I want." He quieted down at the end.

Naruto felt his eyes as they felt weird and frowned as he felt moisture at the corners, then he cried out again as the pain was sharp at the curse mark. "Sasuke..."

Kakashi said "Tell us your plan."

The clone had fallen down to his knees. He whispered something and was gone. Kakashi jumped up "Did anyone catch that?"

Kiba said "We did." Akamaru bariked. Kiba continued "But it doesn't make any sense at all."

Kakashi said "Tell me what it is, exactly."

Kiba said "It was so mixed up. The first part was 'Orochimaru...training. Then something about stealing jutsus and...what was it?" Akamaru barked "Oh yeah, invading Konoha and something about getting revenge, then..." Akamaru barked again "Something about going to Akatsuki and removing seals. Then..." Akamaru barked "But that doesn't make any sense, Akamaru. Naruto doesn't have a dad."

Kakashi's eyes widened "What did he say?"

Kiba said "Something about reviving his father and ..."

Akamaru barked, sounding a little annoyed. Kiba said "Okay, okay, I can't help it if my memory's bad. The last thing was...something about a new village."

Kakashi shook his head, trying to take it in. He still didn't understand all of it, but Naruto was planning on reviving his father? That meant he knew! That must be the jutsu he wants to steal. He could understand the Akatsuki part. They were the most powerful group of missing ninjas. They most likely had a seals expert. Why the training though? And what was he going to do for revenge?"

Sakura asked "Sensei? Do you know what all that was about?"

Kakashi said "Most of it. I think Naruto's planning on creating a new village after he finishes with his plan."

"What?"

Asuma said "That would make sense."

Kakashi said "We need to talk to him again."

Sasuke said "What about the plan?"

Kakashi hesitated for a minute, then said "The plan goes on."

Sakura asked "What message will be sent back?"

He noticed the bird was still waiting. He said "Get me some paper." He held out his hand.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 


	18. Chapter 18

Wow, it's been a while and this update's pretty short too...I apologize for that. I'm just having some serious writer's block with this story now and I have been having it for a long time. I'm still planning on finishing the story though, it would be really helpful if you guys left comments, questions and the like though. They're often where I pick up inspiration from when I get stuck.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Naruto gasped in pain as his clone returned to him and again felt the moisture at the corners of his eyes. It couldn't be true, what they said...but he could find no ulterior motive behind it. If they wanted to kill him, they knew where he was, there was no point to their staying for so long. What, he wondered, would they do now?

He got lost in memories of what had happened since the chunnin exam started. He remembered what Kyuubi had said earlier, before he had been cast out of Konoha. Hinata...could she...really like him? He remembered now the date that they had that time, but no, she had looked at him like the rest had then, but when they met again, she had looked at him like she had before. There had been...tears...his curse seal flared up again and he grimmaced, putting his hand on it. He frowned. He would need sleep for the morning. He didn't get any though when he was pulled to Kyuubi's lair as soon as he shut his eyes "What do you want, fox?" Naruto asked, tiredly.

Kyuubi said "I've been working on a plan on how to get in that snake's library, but if you don't want to know..."

Some of the exhaustion Naruto had been feeling left him. He asked "What is it?"

Kyuubi chuckled "That's more like it, gaki. Now, listen up."

Meanwhile, back in Konoha...

Sandaime recieved a letter from team kakashi. It was in Kakashi's handwriting. it read 'from Teams Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma and Gai...we ran into each other on the borders of Sound while completing our missions and some of the genin thought to go after Uzumaki Naruto. When approached, said Uzumaki attacked along with some Sound nin and left several of the genin severely injured. We were forced to stop by a hospital on the way home and some of the genin remain there. I was also injured, along with Gai. Asuma and Kurenai will accompany the genin fit to leave Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji back to Konoha. They will arrive home in less than a week. The rest of us will follow when the genin recover, estimated time, two weeks.'

Sarutobi put the note down. Strange...there was something off there. He didn't believe a word of it. He wondered what was really going on. He frowned as there was a knock on his door and his named was called. A council member. Well, he would get the real story from Asuma. "Come in."

"Hokage-sama. Have the teams responded?"

Sarutobi held out the letter and said "They're on their way back."

The council member took it and read it with a nod "A wise choice." He left with it.

Sarutobi frowned. Damned council. He worried about Naruto 'What's happening, Naruto? I wonder what's running through your head right now, and I hope that Orochimaru doesn't influence you. Please, return to the little boy I used to know...'

Outside sound...the two groups were splitting rations.

Shikamaru said "Everybody knows what to do?"

Asuma said "You've gone over it more than once, Shikamaru. We can handle this. Don't worry." He locked eyes with his student "We'll save your dad."

Shikamaru said "Troublesome. Be careful."

Kiba asked "Are you guys moving out?"

Shino said "Yes, it is too dangerous to keep staying here. I have scouted out another location which should be just as suitable with my insects."

Kakashi said "We'll be moving as soon as you leave, once it's good and dark."

Kurenai said "In a couple of hours."

"Hai."

There was a pause. Sakura said "It's going to be tough, acting like I hate Naruto. I mean, he used to annoy me back then sometimes, but I didn't know...that it was all a mask then...but I never hated him."

Shikamaru said "You better become a good actress fast. All of you, or all of us could end up dead."

Sakura nodded with a gulp. Kiba said "The one who we should be most worried about acting their part is Hinata." He looked at his team mate with concern.

Hinata frowned "I don't know if I can pretend to hate Naruto-kun. I ...love him..." She paused "But I will try, try to be cold, like my father and sister, for his sake, and ours."

Kurenai said "This isn't a easy thing any of us are going to do, but we've made up our minds."

Asuma said "Konoha's been running downhill ever since that day..."

Kakashi frowned "Ever since sensei died."

Kurenai asked "Your sensei?"

Kakashi said "The fourth hokage was my sensei. Ever since the day he died, ever since the kyuubi attack, the village has been running downhill."

Asuma munched on a rations bar and offered half out toward Kurenai.

Kurenai smiled "Aren't you hungry?"

Asuma said "It looked like you needed it."

"Hmp, well, don't go hungry on my account."

Asuma smiled back "I've got another. I can't have a week team mate on a mission this important, can I?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Go get a room." Kakashi snickered when he saw them both blush. "You two have been beating around the bush for ever."

Kurenai said "You're one to talk Kakashi. You don't even have a girlfriend. Probably because of all those books you read!"

"Maa, maa, don't be so mean, Kurenai."

Sasuke was staring outside, ignoring the adult's banter, though it aggrataved him. Didn't they realize this was serious? He frowned. They would be going back to the village soon. Oh, he would be able to come up with a good bit of hate, that wouldn't be hard to fake. They'd have no way of knowing that it wasn't toward Naruto. He pictured in his head what he'd like to do to the council members.

Sakura was disturbed when she heard Sasuke murmuring things that sounded like murder plots. "Erm, Sasuke-kun?"

"What?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes."

There was a moment of silence.

Neji said "I'm ready to get going."

Sakura said "Kakashi-sensei says that we're going to practice our acts and our stories on the road. We'll have them down by the time we get back to Konoha."

"Hn."

A couple of hours later, they split off into two groups. One relocated to another hiding spot outside Oto and the other started back towards Konoha.

With Naruto...

Naruto woke up when it was still very early morning, around 2am, from Kyuubi's lair. He smirked. The fox had a good plan. He would implement it in the morning, right before he was due to meet Kabuto. He should be able to get the justu he needed, if he was careful, but he'd still bug Orochimaru for justu, to put suspicion off himself, but it would take some preparing. He began.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Until later, ja ne. 


	19. Chapter 19

Hello readers. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO At the gates of Konoha...

Asuma and Kurenai arrived along with Sasuke, Kiba, Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Neji. They showed their papers and went to the Hokage's office to debrief.

Ino asked "We're going to tell Hokage-sama, aren't we?"

Asuma said "Only if we can get him alone, out of his office."

Kurenai said "Even then it might not be a good idea. It would be better to tell him afterward. If someone overheard..."

Asuma nodded. "Alright, I agree. Not a word to anyone, got it?" The genin nodded. They went in after being called.

Sandaime looked up. He locked eyes with his son. Asuma looked slightly away 'He's keeping a secret from me...does it have to do with Naruto? If it is, that means that he's going against orders, if it doesn't he'll tell me later. I hope it's helping Naruto.' He frowned 'Poor Naruto. I'm so sorry...that I couldn't help you more...'

"Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi snapped out of it "Kurenai? Forgive me. I was lost in my thoughts. Well, I recieved your mission report in the letter. So, unless you have anything to add, you're dismissed. Punishment will not be delt out until the others return."

Asuma kept himself from raising an eyebrow. Usually his dad demanded detailled reports. Their report had been very vague. He half smiled 'Thank you, dad. You really do care about Naruto, don't you?' He said "Nothing to add, Hokage-sama."

"Then you are all dismissed." They left.

Asuma looked at his group of students. He said, quietly, "We have a short time frame. We have two weeks before the others are due home. It will probably take a week to get there. We have at the max, a week. Good luck." They all nodded and went their seperate ways.

Neji and Hinata walked back to the Hyuuga compound together. Neji looked at his cousin. She was getting more and more timid as they reached the gates. By the time they neared the main house, Hinata's eyes were looking at her shoes and her fingers were steepled.

Neji said "Hinata-sama."

Hinata said "Neji-niisan."

"You're going to have to be strong, Hinata."

Hinata nodded "I'll do my best, Neji-niisan."

"Hinata!"

"T..tous..san?"

Hiashi scowled. "You're home. Where were you?"

"Out on a mission with my team."

"You ran into Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hai."

"He's become a missing nin."

"Hai."

"Good riddance."

Hinata hung her head, shaking a little. 'Tousan...Can I convince him? Should I try, or not? If I fail..."

Neji said "Hai, good ridance. The demon brat is gone."

Hiashi smiled "I see you see the light. Good boy."

"Am I dismissed, Hiashi-san?"

"Hai."

"Hinata-sama, do you want to train?"

"Hai, Neji-niisan."

Hiashi scowled "Go ahead. You need all the training you can get."

Hinata left out after Neji.

Neji took her chin and lifted her head up and frowned slightly at the tears running down her face. "Hinata. You should know better than anyone what Hiashi-sama's attitude would be. He never gave Naruto a chance. Why would that change now?"

Hinata cried "I thought maybe...just maybe...I mean, he wasn't the best father, but he's still f..family."

Neji scowled and hissed "Your father is a bastard, Hinata. He has been for as long as I can remember. I'm sorry to say this, but your little sister is a miniature copy of him and most of the Hyuugas are the same."

Hinata looked up at Neji "We're family."

Neji hesitatingly held Hinata "Yes, we're family."

"Neji, arigato." Hinata hugged him back.

Neji blushed faintly and said "Our part will be to act our parts until it's time. I agree with the council that Naruto's the Kyuubi and you think that Naruto became the Kyuubi and he's lost to it."

Hinata nodded through her tears. "I will do my best."

Neji said "Hey, we had better actually train or it will look suspicious."

Hinata sniffed "Hai. Byakugon!"

"Byakugon!"

Meanwhile, at the Inuzuka household, it was lunch time.

Kiba's mom, and sister Hana, were at the dinner table. Kiba was giving them the story of the mission.

Kiba's mom spoke up "Good ridance to that lone wolf."

Kiba asked "How come you don't like Naruto, kaasan?"

She looked surprised "He's a danger to Konoha, being unstable like he is. He is a danger to the pack."

Kiba asked "Do you think this way too, sis?"

Hana said "He seemed like a nice boy, but he has become unstable, and the Kyuubi almost destroyed Konoha once. He would do so again."

Kiba cried "Has is occured to anyone that he's unstable because of the curse seal that Orochimaru used on him? I mean the fourth designed the seal, right? He was a master at that sort of thing. I mean, he died to make it. It had to be good enough to keep the Kyuubi in. Besides, Naruto was kicked around by the villagers since he was born, right? He kept the Kyuubi back all those times." He cried "If he did turn into the Kyuubi, it would be the fault of all the villagers who treated him like he was a monster! All he wanted was to be accepted, but not one pack accepted him!" He stood up and pushed his chair back, angrily.

"Kiba..."

"We're about the same age. If it had been me instead of him, would you have tossed me out into the cold to fend for myself, because of something I couldn't control?!" He turned around. "I'm going to my room."

"Kiba, wait!"

Kiba had already left for his room. "Have we...been wrong...?"

Hana said "Kiba made some good points. For such a nitwit, he can sound pretty smart sometimes."

"Have we been wrong? The boy is still a danger, isn't he?"

Hana answered "If he is, it may be as much a fault of Konoha's as the curse seal. My question is..."

"Is he beyond saving?" Hana looked at her mother, surprised. "I'm going to go talk to Kiba."

With Asuma and Kurenai... the two were both at Asuma's place.

Kurenai said "Usually your dad asks for better reports."

Asuma said "I think he's trying to help."

Kurenai smiled "You know, what we're going to do is something that we can't take back."

Asuma asked "Do you have any doubts?"

Kurenai shook her head "Not as long as we do it together." Both blushed at that, then there was a pause.

Asuma then said "Heh...I don't really have anything to eat here...do you want to go out?"

Kurenai thought for a minute "Ichiraku's. That's where Naruto used to eat. Maybe we can get them to join us."

Asuma smiled "Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

At the Uchiha manner...

Sakura was over with Sasuke. His eye was twitching, but for once it wasn't because of Sakura. Someone else was here. He activated his sharingan. It was one person."Anbu-san. Why are you in my house."

An anbu appeared. "I was sent by Hokage-sama to keep an eye on you. He decided that I was enough."

Sasuke frowned. The Anbu was...lying? About what? He frowned. The Anbu asked "What are your feelings concerning Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sasuke frowned 'A test, and I don't even know what side this guy's on. Geez...he must be from Hokage-sama, because the council have no reason to send him, neither does Hokage-sama though...it could blow the plan if he's against Naruto...'

Sakura asked "What do you think of him?"

The Anbu paused 'Smart girl.' He said "You're trying to find out what side I'm on before you tell me your opinion." He looked at Sasuke "You're a perceptive boy, too. Tell you what. I'll remove my mask, will that gain your trust?"

Sasuke nodded, hesitatingly. The man removed his mask. Sasuke was surprised "I've never seen you before."

"Hokage-sama said that I might find it interesting to chat with you two, so here I am."

"Who are you?"

"Call me Yamato. Now, what do you think of the boy?"

Finally, with Ino...

Ino was sitting down to dinner with her mom. Her dad hadn't gotten back in yet. "Can we eat now?"

"Be patient, Ino."

Just then Inoichi walked in. "Toussan."

"Ino, back from your mission I see."

"Hai. Is it true that Shikamaru and Chouji's dads are in jail?"

Inoichi frowned "Hai."

"I heard you helped put them there. You didn't, did you?" Inoichi looked away. "Dad! How could you? They're your friends! And Naruto's not a ..."

Inoichi covered his daughter's mouth. "There's no one in the house, but they have spies pass by often. If you make too much noise, it will be worse for all of us."

Ino listened to the sounds of her mother scratching on a piece of paper with a pen. She recieved the note afterwards and gaped at it in shock.

"Mom's..."

Inoichi put his hand over his daughter's mouth and whispered in her ear, "Hai. They were threatening your mom and especially in her condition...they said if I stood up with them, they'd make your mother have an accident. They...made me betray Shikaku and Chouza and they don't even know why."

Ino said "I knew you were a good guy! I've got something to tell you guys."

Her mom pointed to the paper. "Oh..."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hope you guys liked the chapter. Ja ne. 


	20. Chapter 20

Here's the next chapter everyone. Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Inoichi Yamanaka read his daughter's note in shock and looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Honto?"

"Hai."

He paused, then said "The way things have gone in Konoha lately...ok."

His wife smiled "Together."

Ino grinned "I knew you guys were good guys. So when..."

"You let me know Ino-chan. I mean, you've planned this party with your friends. I don't want to mess up the timing." He smiled.

Ino thought 'Even though there are spies and it's going to be dangerous...they still...I knew they were great parents!' She jumped up and hugged him "Arigato, toussan!"

"You're welcome, Ino-chan."

Meanwhile, with Sasuke, Sakura, and Yamato...

Sasuke frowned. He didn't trust the Anbu all that much, especially because he didn't know whose side he was on. Sure he said that he was sent by the Hokage, but that didn't mean it was true.

Yamato smiled and said "You still don't trust me, huh? That's alright. Well, I am sent by Hokage-sama, like I said..." He paused and frowned slightly. "Uchiha-san, Haruno-san, follow me."

Sasuke opened his mouth and Yamato sent them both a scary look. Sasuke frowned. It was scary, but he didn't send killer intent like Orochimaru. He looked at Sakura. She was shaking.

Suddenly Yamato picked up pace and they started chasing him across the rooftops. Sakura cried out when she tripped on a ledge. Sasuke called "Hey! You're going too fast!" No response. "Kuso...Sakura..." Sakura stood back up, but whimpered and folded a bit when she did.

"I...think I twisted my ankle." She looked down and said quietly "Some ninja I am, twisting my ankle during a chase..."

Sasuke sighed "Well, it doesn't look like he's slowing down...and we should probably keep following him. Get on."

Sakura blushed "Nani? Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke said "Look, it's not a bit deal. We'll lose him entirely if we waste any more time. Get on." Sakura got on Sasuke's back and he took off again. As soon as they had almost caught up to Yamato he dissapeared. "What..." Suddenly both of them were jerked backwards. "Hey...!" Suddenly they were both in a dark place. "What? We were just on the roofs, then we jumped down and we were...sucked into a wall?"

Suddenly a voice spoke up out of the darkness "I hope you aren't injured, Haruno-san."

"Yamato-san?" Sakura asked, looking around. "Why is it so dark in here?"

Suddenly a light came on. They looked around. It was what looked like an apartment. Yamato smiled "Welcome to my house."

"Your house?"

Yamato said "I have more than one. My official one is near Anbu headquarters, this one is my secret apartment. It doesn't exist, so it isn't monitored. Now, feel free to look around and satisfy yourself that this isn't a trap, Uchiha-san. After that, we will talk about this plan of yours."

Sasuke nodded. He took Sakura and explored the apartment. Nothing. He returned to the front room. "It's not a very big house. The biggest room is the living room here."

Yamato said "The main purpose of this house is to have secret meetings in or to stay in when I don't want to be found. Now, Hokage-sama believes that the genin of your groups are planning to help Uzumaki-san. He told this to me only, in such a way that we were not overheard. Also, I will not be relaying to him any information that I learn here."

"Why?"

Yamato smiled again "Because, Haruno-san, what the Hokage doesn't know, the council can't charge against him."

Sasuke frowned "Why did we have to chase you halfway across town to get here?"

Yamato said "For the reason I said before. It isn't monitored here and we were being followed."

Sasuke's frowned lightened slighly and he said "If there was some sort of plan, what would you do about it? You couldn't assist. You'd be labelled a missing nin."

Yamato smiled "I would either keep silent or assist. It depends. Now, I take it that Hokage-sama is not mistaken about you and the other genin. Do all of you realize the consequences between helping a missing nin? Especially one such as Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sasuke said "Hai."

Yamato smiled "It is good for you that I am not an enemy, Uchiha-san. Otherwise, I could have you all put into holding cells and interrogated just for that." Sasuke scowled. Yamato said "Hey, I just said I'm not your enemy. Now, since you've admitted to it, you might as well go and tell me your plan."

Sakura said "Wait. You never answered my question. What do you think of Naruto?"

Yamato paused "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hai."

"He is a boy...that has been treated unfairly by this village for many years. I know what it's like to have things done to you not of your will...Also, I really don't like Orochimaru and I'd like to be a part of anything done to aggravate him." He smiled again. "Besides, I don't really have anything better to do, so, what's your plan?"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "You're pretty strange, for an Anbu."

Yamato said "Mah, get on with it already. It's not going to be simple, this plan of yours, by any means and the clock's ticking."

Sasuke sighed and told the Anbu the plan.

At the Ichiraku ramen stand...

Asuma and Kurenai sat down, but they didn't see the old man or his daughter. "That's weird. The stand's open..."

Asuma said "Maybe they're in the back. Hello?" He called.

After a minute Ayame came out. "Oh, hello. I'm sorry to keep you waiting." She sniffed. "Can I take your order?"

Kurenai asked "Are you alright? You sound like you're about to cry."

Ayame said "Oh, no, I'm fine." She looked around, then said "Business hasn't been very good lately, ever since Naruto-kun left."

"I wouldn't blame him if he never came back."

"Toussan..."

"Ichiraku-san, what happened to your arm?" Asuma asked.

Teuchi replied "Nothing much. There was a fight here the other day, with somebody trying to badmouth Naruto. I may have gotten involved."

"Ichiraku-san..." Asuma put his hand on Kurenai's shoulder.

He said "So, Ichiraku-san, you don't think any differently about Naruto?"

Teuchi said "You mean do I think he's become the Kyuubi?" He paused and said "No, I do not. I saw the way he was mistreated. I would have adopted him myself, but it's difficult just supporting the two of us. If he didn't let the Kyuubi out any of those times, why would now be any different? I don't know the whole story, but I don't think what's happening is his fault."

Kurenai smiled. She said "D'you mind if I help in preparing food, since your arm is hurt, Ichiraku-san? I'd like to talk to you about something."

Teuchi was surprised. He said "H..hai." Kurenai jumped behind the counter and dissapeared with Teuchi.

Asuma smiled. He said "I'll order for the both of us. Four bowls of chicken ramen please."

"Hai."

Meanwhile...

Kiba was up in his room, sitting on his bed annoyed, when his mom came in. "Go away."

"Kiba..."

"I didn't think you'd be like the others mom...you and sis..." He was turned facing the corner.

"Kiba...we talked a little after you left...and maybe we were wrong about some things. We need to talk about this."

Kiba turned around. "Does that mean you guys have changed your minds?"

Hana showed up "We've started to think that maybe it was out of the cub's control, but the important thing to consider, Kiba, is if he is beyond saving. You ran into him, right? What do you think?"

Kiba thought back to the last time he had seen Naruto outside of the cave. It had been after they got the lettter, after they had decided on the plan.

Flashback.  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Just then they heard buzzing. Two bugs! They all got up from where they were in a circle, excited. As expected, a clone of Naruto appeared again.

"Why haven't you come until now?"

Naruto said "Had to wait until dark." Everyone noticed that it was indeed twillight. Where had all the time gone? They noticed his expression too and decided not to further question him on that.

Naruto frowned at them "Why are you still here anyway? You don't still plan on bringing me back, do you?"

Sasuke said "Things have changed since the last time we talked, d...Naruto. Just take a look at this." Naruto took the piece of paper and read it.

'What the hell?' He said "So you'll be leaving now?"

Sakura cried "You baka! We're all going to be risking our lives for you and that's all you can say?!"

"Risk your lives?" Naruto was truly confused. What were they talking about? "What do you mean? I don't get it. You're not going back?"

Shikamaru said "Only half of us are, but we'll all be back. We're leaving Konoha."

Naruto said "So you can all become missing nins?" He looked at them sharply "That's idiotic, for all of you to risk your lives so for one person."

Sakura slapped him "How dare you!"

Naruto held his cheek. She just hit him. He frowned "Why did you do that?"

Kakashi said "You matter a lot more than you think you do, Naruto. Your part of my team, I won't leave you behind."

Sasuke said "You were my first and only friend." He looked away.

Sakura said "You're my team mate." She looked at him hurt.

Naruto frowned. What has this...feeling? This had to be an act. It had to be, they couldn't really feel like this, he would have seen it before, they would have shown it before. It felt...it hurt...' He groaned, squeezing his shoulder.

Kakashi said "I can seal that."

Naruto hissed "No, Orochimaru will know. I can't blow my cover." He looked at them "I don't understand."

Hinata said "None of us want to see you go down the dark path, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke said "The council needs to pay."

Neji added "The bastards have gotten too used to everybody doing what they want."

Naruto frowned, confused again, "What the hell are you planning? What's the purpose? I don't understand...why...do this for me? I don't matter."

Hinata cried "You're wrong! You do matter!"

Naruto frowned "What will you do after defying the council hmm? What do you expect from me? For me to leave and come join you and we can all be a happy family?" His curse mark twinged again and he hissed. "I have plans of my own."

Sasuke said "And they would be?"

Naruto said "Like I would tell you."

Sasuke said "I'm risking my life for you!"

"Don't!"

Sasuke yelled "I will! Stupid dobe! You saved me! Don't you realize that?! I'll do what I want." He quieted down at the end.

Naruto felt his eyes as they felt weird and frowned as he felt moisture at the corners, then he cried out again as the pain was sharp at the curse mark. "Sasuke..."

Kakashi said "Tell us your plan."

The clone had fallen down to his knees. He whispered something and was gone. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO End flashback...

Kiba looked at his mom and sister and said "The last time we met him, we were talking and he was saying how he doesn't matter and Sasuke kept on about how he was his team mate and his friend and all. At the end..." Akamaru barked.

Hana asked "He was crying?"

Kiba nodded. "I think the Naruto I went to school with is still in there somewhere."

Tsume said "That's what we needed to know. Kiba..."

"Hai, kaasan?"

"Is there something else you've been hiding from us?"

Kiba paused. He said "Kaasan, did you change your mind, with how you feel about Naruto?" He paused. "What do you think of how Konoha is going downhill, huh?"

Tsume said "Yes, I think I may have been wrong about Naruto. Konoha...is my home...we have always lived here..."

Kiba said "The people who are precious to us form our pack. If the pack moves on, would you stay behind?"

"What do you mean? I would never abandon my pack."

Kiba said "What I'm about to say can't be said to anyone else outside of this room. If it is, it could put a lot of people in danger, including us. Understand? Not a word to anyone, even Anbu or Hokage-sama."

"What is it?"

"Do you both promise not to tell?"

Hana nodded "Hai."

Tsume paused, then sighed "Hai, Kiba, but I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this much. Talk."

Kiba smiled slightly. He knew he could count on his family. He told them the plan they had discussed back on the outskirts of Oto.

At the Hyuuga household...

Hinata and Neji finished their spar just before Hiashi called Hinata.

Hinata went back in, Neji following with a scowl.

"Hinata."

"Hai, toussan?"

"I heard Neji's opinion of Uzumaki Naruto, but you ran out before I heard yours." He paused "I hope that the turn of events has convinced you of the brat's true nature."

Hinata took in a breath. 'It's acting time, Hinata. You can say it. Come on...' She said "I...I never thought that he was like that, b..but..I g..guess I was w..wrong. He w..was just like the s..stories, like the k..kyuubi." She couldn't help the tears that were coming to her eyes.

Hiashi smiled and said "Maybe you're not as dumb as you let on. Now that that nuisance is out of your thoughts, you can concentrate on training and become a decent ninja. Spar with Hanabi."

"H..hai, toussan." Hinata walked up, meekly.

Hanabi sneered at her. She said "What's wrong, sister? Did you love him?" She started striking "Bet it was a shock when you found out he was a monster!"

Hinata's eyes opened wider and she felt rage start to build up. She struck back harder than she usually did sparring with her sister. "Byakugan!"

"Byakugan! What's wrong, sister?" Hanabi spat. "Did I say something to make you angry? Was it about your bakemono boyfriend?"

Hinata scowled as Hanabi approached, then said "You are within the range of my divination. Eight trigrams sixty-four palms!" She struck. Hanabi fell over coughing afterward, the attack having caught her by surprise.

Hiashi said "Match." He paused "Hinata. That was the most spirit I've everseen you put into a fight."

Hinata hissed "Tell my sister that she should know better than to say such things. The boy I am in love with is no monster!"

Hiashi asked "Who is this boy that you are in love with?"

Hinata paused, rage fading, as she realized what she had gotten herself into. 'I can't say Naruto. I'll have to pick someone else, but who... She was caught off guard when she felt a hand catch hers and shocked by what she heard next.

"It's me, Hiashi-sama. I am the boy that Hinata-sama loves."

Hinata blushed. Hiashi looked thoughtful. He said "Your cousin is a much better choice than that brat. I approve. I will arrange the marriage with the clan. You are dismissed."

Hinata walked off to her room in a daze. What had just happened? Neji pulled her into a hallway.

"Hinata, snap out of it."

"Neji? What...?"

Neji said "I knew you couldn't say Naruto and it looked like you were having trouble coming up with somebody, so I stepped in. Don't worry about it, we'll be gone before the marriage anyway. We're leaving in a week."

Hinata thought 'Was that the only reason...?' "Neji?"

"Hai?"

"N..nothing." Hinata blushed slightly again.

Neji smiled "You did a good job back there. I think you've got Hiashi convinced. Just keep it up until we get out of here." Hinata nodded.

In another hiding spot on the outskirts ot Oto...

Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino were talking.

Tenten asked "Do you think we should keep trying to communicate with Naruto?"

Shino said "He may not come to talk to us, in fact, I doubt it highly that he will."

Tenten said "It wouldn't hurt to give him the option."

Shino said "I'll send a bug out to observe." He sent one out.

Shikamaru sighed "I hate being left behind here. There's too many outcomes...and we have no contact with the others..."

Chouji said "Hey, nobody does, but what can we do?"

Kakashi said "We'll know by a couple of weeks. The others should be back before then."

Lee asked "Ano...Shino, if your dad wanted to communicate with us, he could send one of his bugs, right?"

Shino nodded "Hai."

Lee said "Yosh. We still have some communication with the others then!"

Shikamaru said "But that's only after the others come into contact with him, which could take a while if they do it carefully enough to avoid getting caught."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I hope you guys liked it. Don't forget to review. Ja ne. 


	21. Chapter 21

Hello, readers! I know it's been forever since I've updated, but I've finally got some free time, so here's the newest chapter of Perfect Vessel. Look forward to new chapters on my other stories soon.

* * *

Kakashi tensed. Something was going to happen soon, he just knew it. He looked at the others gathered with him in the hideout, Gai, Lee, TenTen, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino. Speaking of Shino...

"Shino, any word yet?"

"No, Kakashi-San. No news yet, although my kikai are agitated. It is as though something is in the air..."

Shikamaru sighed "We've been here hiding for nearly two weeks. We're due to leave tomorrow for Konoha and no word yet from the others....how troublesome..."

TenTen replied "The others have got to be okay....they've got to...Gai-sensei....?"

Gai said "If we hear no word from them before dawn tomorrow, we must return to Konoha..."

All the shinobi gathered hung their heads, the possibility that this had all been for nothing was daunting.

Chouji said "We must continue to trust in the others."

"Hai" a loose chorus of voices agreed.

**

* * *

  
**

Meanwhile in Konoha...

Three figures met in a secret house underneath Konoha.

"It will be done tomorrow." said the first

"Is everyone ready?" asked the second

"Dove is ready. We are alone." The third replied.

"Smoker and Wolf are ready. So is Tree. Wolf travels in a pack. Smoker too." The second responded.

The first spoke up last "Cherry and Blossom are ready. A single cherry to ride among a field of blossoms."

"That is unfortunate" said the second, softly.

"Yes," the first responded. "Raven, out." He disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Eagle out." The third disappeared.

"Red out." The second said quietly, to herself and she went in the same way.

In the Hyuuga training grounds..

Neji opened his eyes and got up from the position he had been meditating in. He thought 'The time draws near..."Hinata-sama." He called as she drew near.

She walked over "Hai, Neji-kun?"

He smiled "The day we have been waiting for approaches."

Hinata said "Hai."

"Have you gotten words to our friends about our news?"

"Not yet, Neji-kun. It will have to be a surprise."

"Well, I hope they are happy for us then."

Neji smiled, while anyone outside of themselves might see this conversation as talk about the upcoming wedding Hiashi had planned, the two of them knew differently. Neji was disturbed that Hinata had still not been able to get in contact with the others in Oto and they hadn't been able to see Shibi at all to see if he had spoken to Shino...since he was still imprisoned. However, all that would change tonight.

**

* * *

  
**

One week ago in Otogakure...

Naruto Uzumaki smirked, his opportunity had finally come. Orochimaru, tending to some business of his in the lab had left the area and Kabuto was on a mission. He looked into the vault, looking for the traps. For he knew the place would be covered in them. He also knew his time was short, and that an opportunity such as this wouldn't present itself again. He chuckled. Sometimes, the old tricks came in handy. He whispered "Kage bushin no jutsu..."

Present day in an unknown location...

A sea of orange could be see in a low cave facing the water. One of these bodies chuckled, pausing from his training. He smirked. The snake had been arrogant enough to include enough information about the curse seal to create a removal technique. He and around 200 of his clones had been working on it for the past week and he nearly had it. He wouldn't need Akatsuki after all. Really, that had been the biggest reason for joining Akatsuki in the first place. The other reason being having back up against Konoha, if needed.

He had received no new correspondence from the Konoha genin since his move, making him rather surprised when he was hit in the face with a beetle. He chuckled. 'Makes you wonder why Aburame aren't on assassination squads. They can track better than an Inuzuka.' He let the bug feed off him for a second, being obviously exhausted. He then noticed a seal on it's back. Curious, he released it and a small scroll popped out.

He chuckled as he read it "So that's what they're up to...interesting. Our plans are not opposed to each other. Seems those guys realized how Konoha is a village of idiots too, especially the council." He grinned as he read the ending "Really...I've got to say I'm honored....I just might accept, but after I've taken care of ….some business."

He took the scroll and pocketed it and wrote a quick note on a new one and resealed it on the bug. He watched it fly off and went back to training.

Several hours later, 200 clones dispelled. Naruto smirked "Now, to get rid of that annoying little problem. He laughed through a clenched jaw. "Ah ah, do your best, you bastard, you can't beat me."

Naruto did a series of a couple of dozen seals then let a little of Kyuubi's power out, sharpening his nails and he plunged them into the site of the cursed seal "Curse seal, release!" He hissed as he felt the purplish- black poison leave his body through the punctures on his shoulder. He grinned as the last of it was forced out and it evaporated. He felt his shoulder finally healing up. "Finally." He let the world darken around him as he felt the other couple thousand clones dispel.

In Naruto's mindscape...

The Kyuubi looked at it's jailor. "Finally, gaki. It took you long enough to get rid of that snake."

"Hmm."

The Kyuubi frowned "Gaki."

"Hmm."

"Have you changed your plans?"

"I no longer plan on going to Akatsuki. I don't trust them and I don't need them any longer. I will train in the techniques I stole from Orochimaru and then I will enact my plan on Konoha."

"After that?"

"Perhaps I will join this new village. It could use a decent Anbu captain."

"What about your damned father?"

Naruto paused, long enough for the Kyuubi to prompt him again "Well..."

Naruto frowned "I've thought a lot about that. I made my decision this morning. I plan to bring him back to life right before the invasion. I will show him everything, let him decide which side to fight on."

"And if he chooses the side against you."

"Then I will take him down with the rest of the idiotic fools in Konoha."

**

* * *

  
**

7 pairs of eyes snapped to the entrance of their hideout to the sight of a small beetle flying in. Shino stretched out his hand. "The lost one..." He listened to it, then unsealed the scroll on its back and after reading over it, held it out so the others could see.

The note read....

"I have a plan that I must finish, however, I will not interfere with yours. I might even take your up on your offer. I give you my word that I will not go after you or your allies in Konoha, just the idiots. Oh, and when you're ready to go to the future sight of the village of outcasts, throw this, I just might come and give a hand in moving. Trust me, it's about the only goo, snake free, place to disappear in the eastern countries. Ja ne."

Kakashi unsealed the smaller seal and gasped as a three pronged kunai came out. "He learned the hiraishin?"

"What's that?"

"A teleportation technique..."

"What does he mean by the end?"

"He's most likely had some inside information about Orochimaru's bases and where he's got eyes. I wonder where this place is."

"Should we trust him?"

Kakashi replied "He wouldn't betray us to Konoha, since he hates Konoha and they're the only ones it makes since to betray us to. I trust him."

Gai said "So once everyone is gathered here..."

"We call him."

**

* * *

  
**

That's all for today, look forward to the next chapter coming soon. Ja ne.


	22. Chapter 22

Call for all beta readers:

I have officially got a good grip on the revamping of the Perfect Vessel, in order to make the story more coherent and fix some of the obvious plot holes.

However, I still need a fresh perspective on these new chapters, so I am requesting a beta reader to review the new chapters of the Perfect Vessel. I am looking for someone who can give criticism where it is due to help improve the story.

I do not plan on posting this new, edited version of the story on until I have finished it and had it beta'd. Once this is done, I will replace the old version with the new.

Thank You to all of my dedicated readers,

Shima


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